Deadly Women
by BellatrixRemairaBlack
Summary: Story takes place in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. Harry has just arrived in Grimmauld place with the order and had reunited with Sirius, when his scar starts burning. He goes downstairs and meets four interesting girls! Sirius Black's daughter, Remus Lupin's daughter, Peter Pettigrew's daughter, and Voldemort's sister! Tom Riddle's evil, sister. Dark Side story Pov.
1. Chapter 1: Wait What!

_**Summary: **_

_**Story takes place in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. Harry has just arrived in Grimmauld place with the order and had reunited with Sirius, when his scar starts burning. He goes downstairs to the kitchen to meet four interesting girls and two babies! Sirius Black's daughter, Remus Lupin's daughter, Peter Pettigrew's daughter, and Voldemort's sister! Peter's daughter had a son. The father is MIA. And Voldemort's sister had a baby, and the father is Snape! LOLZ! Everything would be great and all… But these girls are **__**not **__**on the light side. They hate Mudbloods and blood traitors, and hate everything to do with the Order. They just stopped by to remind the Infamous Mauraders what they left behind. And to get their things. Here's a little info on the new characters. **_

_**Remus Lupin's daughter**__**: If you've ever seen Ginger Snaps you'll know what I'm talking about. Ginger is the werewolf from Ginger Snaps. She's a werewolf and cold blooded, and hates everyone except her friends. She ran away from her mom and dad at twelve and reunited with these girls. Now she's a Death Eater! Lots of Potty mouth of course as always. Her name is Ginger Lupin.**_

_**Sirius Black's Daughter: **__**The group juvenile. Very easily angered and hates every one apart from her friends. Hates her parents and loathes the boy who lived. She's Bella Swan new and improved bad girl. Smokes, drinks, and parties like a rock star. Her favorite bff is Voldemort's sister. Her name is Bella Black, and is a Death Eater. She's Bella Swan from Twilight, reinvented as Bella Black. Bella Black ran away after Voldemort's defeat and joined her friends. **_

_**Peter Pettigrew's Daughter: **__**Her name is Taylor Pettigrew. She is the bad girl, motherly side of the group. She has a baby named Zack, and does not need a man to be tied too. She depends on her friends but can live on her own. She's the type to take control, and is the humor one in the group. She can make anyone laugh. Left the house as a kid, now a respected House Mother and cook for the Death Eaters.**_

_**Voldemort's Sister: **__**Oldest person in the group, she's twenty four. Married to Severus Snape, and has a six month old baby named Severus Jr. She's a beautiful model in London but not many people apart from Voldemort's inner circle know of her actual Riddle name. She's a kind hearted woman who loves her older brother and wouldn't even think of going to the Light side. Her name is Juliunna Marvolo Riddle, well I guess Snape now**____** D**_

Alright on to the story. I hope that at least one of you read this info log, seeing as if it'll give you a lot of information.

Happy New Years and I hope you all enjoy my story.

Chapter 1:

"Open the door Bella." A snake like voice whispered. The beautiful woman holding the adorable baby whispered to one of her friends. "Sure." The brown haired girl whispered absently. Bella carefully opened the door to Grimmauld Place quietly, and jumped back in surprise. About a dozen wands were pointed in the groups face.

"Get away! You're scaring the baby!" Bella screamed, and the order jumped back as she pushed past them. "This is _**my **_house! I'm a Black, and this house was left to me! Get out of my way filth!" She yelled, and the order watched the four girls move pass them silently.

"Thank you Bella-!"

"Wait? What!" Sirius Black moved into view.

"Filthy blood traitor! Don't you dare interrupt the Dark Lady!" Bella Black screamed at him, and he jumped back in surprise.

"Who are you girls?" Remus moved forward, and one of the girls growled.

"Calm down Ginger." Juliunna put a hand on Gingers shoulder in comfort. "Ginger?" Remus asked with a pale face. Ginger was two seconds away from cursing out the man, but calmed down with deep breathing.

"What is going on here?" Molly Weasley stepped forward. Bella glared at her with intensifying hatred. "We're here for a few things." Bella said simply, not even looking at Molly.

"Bella, I want to talk to you-!"

"You stupid blood traitor! I don't give a cra* about you! Get out of my way!" Bella screeched, pushing past Sirius and stomping to the kitchen. Ginger looked like she was about to follow, but that was when Remus gave a big sniff.

"She's a werewolf! I can smell it on her." He said simply, and the order looked to Ginger in shock.

"Yeah, so what?" Ginger snapped, and then followed her friend into the kitchen.

"Excuse me, can anyone tell me what's going on?!" Arthur shouted, and the wands were up again. The two women left were both holding babies, so they needn't bother.

"We stopped by to give you all a reality check. Also, Bella needs to get some things from the attic, or her room or whatever." The blonde one said, and then walked into the kitchen. Everyone looked to the last woman holding the adorable baby, and then Sirius stepped forward. He opened his mouth to talk, but the woman held up her hand in silence.

"Get in the kitchen. I'll explain then." Was all she said, and then walked off to the kitchen. Upstairs, the children watched the order disappear with the woman.

"Oh my glob. Hand me the ears!" Fred snapped, but they needn't worry bout extendable ears. On the fact that this conversation was loud as _**what!**_

__"Listen girls, I'm sure we can figure this all out-!"

"Shut up baldy!" Bella shouted to Arthur, and he jumped back at the fury in her tone. "We're not girls! We've definitely outgrown that title! **And if you don't stop staring at me!" **

Bella shouted at Sirius, and he jumped. "Listen, let's start with names. Can we get a few names here ladies?" Molly said calmly, and the oldest one sat down.

"Yes, my names Juliunna. My husband comes here, his name is Severus. That's why we were able to… What's wrong?" She asked, for everyone was staring at her like she'd grown a second head.

"How did Sniviless get a girl like you?" Sirius blanched, and Juliunna glared at him. "Sniviless? Are you kidding me? How dare you insult my husband in front of me?!" She snapped, shifting the gleeful baby so she could pull out her wand.

"Oh! Oh, you idiot! Don't insult the Dark Lady! How many times to I have to tell you before the message sinks in?" Bella snapped. The other two women were watching this exchange with boredom.

"Why are you called the Dark Lady?" Mad eyed Moody asked, who had currently been silent throughout this whole exchange. Juliunna turned to him with a smirk on her face.

"Let's just say I have a very close relationship with the Dark Lord." She smirked, and the four girls lifted up their shirt sleeves. On three of the girls were a small, beautifully intricate tattoo of a snake wrapped around a skull. The Dark Mark. But on Juliunna's arm, there was a Snake wrapped around the name 'Riddle'. It was sparkly. The order gasped. Molly clutched her heart and Sirius blanched.

"You're a death eater?" He asked pointedly to Bella, and she nodded. "Of course Father. Now you get it!"

"Father?!"

"Sirius you have a kid?"

"When did this happen?"

"But why?"

"Why do you think I hate you so much? Because you're a stupid blood traitor, and I hate Mudbloods. Isn't it obvious?" Bella asked an air of fakeness.

"Guys? What's going on?" A voice came from the door way, and the four girls gasped. Molly clutched her heart in worry, and the Order moved to protect the boy in the door. Why you ask? Well it's simple.

The boy in the door was Harry Potter. And there are four loyal Death Eaters in the kitchen.

It's about to go down!

Bella jumped up with an angry yell, and a dozen wands were pointed in her direction.

"Get back Harry, their dangerous." Molly shouted to Harry, but she needn't worry for now. The Dark Lady had everything under control.

"Isabella have a seat. We're guests here." She breathed with a snake like whisper, which made Harry turn to her with surprise.

"But Jules-!"

"Sit!" She snapped, and Bella threw herself down into a chair immediately.

"Excuse me, but you sound a lot like someone I know…" Harry tried to move closer, but there was a dozen order members between them.

"Ah yes Mr. Potter. You see, I'm always being told how much I sound like my brother." She shifted the baby in her arms, whom cooed with delight.

"Oh… Well who's your brother-?"

"Curiosity killed the cat Mr. Potter, remember that." Juliunna breathed, making Harry chuckle. But the rest of the order didn't seem to think that it was funny.

"Was that a threat?!" Molly said, bringing out her wand. Ginger growled a deep, wolfish growl and threw herself in between Juliunna and Molly. Bella took out her wand and did the same. Harry tried to calm Mrs. Weasley down.

"Mrs. Weasley it was just a joke-!"

"Go upstairs Harry!" Molly shouted, but Mad Eyed Moody stepped forward.

"Sirius, tell us more about your daughter." He said calmly, and Harry looked up in shock.

"Sirius you have a daughter?" Harry asked in shock, and stood next to Sirius.

"Um yeah, she's the homicidal one with the brown hair-!"

"Don't talk about me behind my back!" Bella screamed at the top of her lungs, and Harry jumped back at her furious tone.

"And don't _**you **_interrupt me! I am your father-!"

"Sadly. And don't act like you actually care! I'm not in the mood for the man who lived in Azkaban for twelve years of my life-!"

"I was framed!"

"I know! Taylor's dad did it, and you were stupid enough to take the blame!" Bella shouted, and pointed to the blonde woman behind her. She was looking smug and adjusting the shirt on her two year old boy.

"Well you can tell Taylor's dad… Wait. **WHAT?!**" Sirius, along with the rest of the order screamed. Remus stepped forward as close as he dared, for Bella still had her wand in the direction of the order.

"Are you telling me that Peter actually had a daughter?" Remus asked, and Taylor nodded.

"Uh, duh."

"But how?! When-!"

"That is none of your business. Why don't you talk to your own daughter? Right over there." Taylor sneered, and pointed in Ginger's direction. Everyone gasped, along with Remus, which made Ginger annoyed.

"What are you looking at?!" She snapped at Remus, and he tried to get closer.

"Remus, you have a daughter too?" Harry asked, wondering if he knew the man as much as he thought.

"Well, yes Harry I do. But she ran away from home when she was twelve. I believe she had a choice to make. Stay home and grow up loved or run away and live on her on with no one but a few friends to take care of her. I believe she chose the juvenile's choice-!"

**"Shut up!" **Ginger screamed, making everyone jump back. "You don't know a thing about me! So shut your filmy mouth! Werewolf." She muttered, making Remus chuckle.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you dear, but you _are _a werewolf too." He said simply, but this made Ginger smirk.

"Ah yes, but at least I embrace my Lycanthrobeness. I enjoy the pain that comes with it, whereas your too much of a coward-!"

"Excuse me?"

"Too much of a coward to do what I do. You see, before I transform on the full moon, I enjoy myself by sleeping in a remote Muggle town-!"

"You disgust me." Sirius said frown behind Remus. He put a hand on Remus's shoulder to comfort him as he stared openmouthed at Ginger.

"Whatever. As if I'd care what a filthy blood traitor like you would have to say." Ginger smiled widely, enjoying her Father's horror.

"But you… All you do is feel sorry for yourself. Idiot. Nothing but a coward is what my friends tell me. Without my friends, no one loved me-"

"Your mother and I loved you very much-!"

"Lies! Lies! And that bitch can burn in hell where she belongs!"

**"ARGH!"** Remus threw himself at the giggling teenager with his hands ready for murder. The order watched in shock as Bella shot a curse that sent him falling to the ground paralyzed.

"Remus! What did you do to him?!" Sirius yelled, and Bella rolled her eyes.

"What I had to do. Don't worry, your dog will be okay in a few minutes. Just Petrific-!"

"Totalus." Someone in the door finished. When everyone turned to the person in the door, Molly's face seemed drained of all color. It was Hermione and Ron.

"I know the spell. And it's effect." Hermione said, and then turned to the four Death Eaters, who were looking gleeful.

"Juliunna look, it's the Mudblood Granger that Potter seems so fond of-!"

"Shut up!" Ron shouted to Bella, who froze with anger. "Don't you dare call her a Mudblood-!" His mouth shut quickly in horror. Bella turned around and disappeared in a flash. In a mere seconds, she had bypassed the order's barrier and was inches away from Ron's face.

"What did you say little boy?" She asked, and then flicked her wand in his chest. A stunning spell called Stupify. The kitchen door, where Ron was currently standing, was parallel with the main door, all the way down the hall. So it was humorous for Bella to see Ron being lifted off his feet and blasted over twenty feet away. When he smashed into the door, Hermione screamed. Molly and Arthur ran forward and passed Bella in horror as they ran to help their son. Harry didn't dare say a word when Juliunna passed her baby to Ginger, and walk towards to Bella silently.

"What did I tell you Isabella? No violence in front of the children! Now you have to be punished!" She snarled, and pulled a wand out of her pocket. Bella dropped hers and got onto her knees.

"Yes my Lord, I deserve to be punished." She said clearly, and everyone watched in horror as Juliunna raised her wand in Bella's direction.

_"Crucio." _She called out with a high voice, and Harry could hear a high static sound erupt from the inside of Bella. Instantly she was on the floor twitching and crying. He, along with the rest of the order had wide eyes.

When Juliunna pulled away her wand, it had been at least five full minutes. When Bella got back up, she let out a large breath.

"Sorry." She muttured, and Juliunna nodded.

"Apology excepted. Now have a seat. We're getting out of here soon and I want this over and done with." Juliunna muttered, and they both took their seats again.

"Err, you said that you came for something. What are you looking for?" Mad Eyed Moody said, and Juliunna breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's a locket. A special locket. I believe it has the Slytherin logo on it?" Juliunna asked with a giggle, but the rest of the order shrugged.

"Well Miss Snape, we don't know anything about no locket. Do you have any idea where it is?" Arthur said nervously.

"Um, no. I believe that it's buried under all the other artifacts, but it's imperative that we get this locket." Juliunna said, and Arthur smacked his hand to his head.

"Well, we're cleaning out the house miss. I think that we can find this locket and get right back to you when we find it." Arthur said smoothly, and Juliunna smiled kindly.

"Thank you Mr. Weasley. We'll be going now." Within seconds, every girl but her was out the door outside.

Juliunna walked slowly though, but stopped at the kitchen door.

"Oh, and don't call me Miss Snape. My brother prefers me to go by my maiden name. Call me Miss Riddle." She smirked devilishly, and then with another spin was gone. Harry gasped, holding his hand to his neck, and Ron and Hermione had the same expression.

Riddle. Riddle. Riddle. Could that have been Tom Riddle's Sister?

Well of course that was!


	2. Chapter 2: Women be crazy!:)

Chapter 2:

**Normal Pov**

Over a month had passed since the Order members saw any of the four women. The Golden Trio's late night talks were mostly about them. Hermione was worried that they would break in and kill Harry, so she broke out a book of protection spells and consulted an order member. Ron was in denial, and just worried a lot aloud. Harry, well Harry wasn't exactly worried. The oldest women, Voldemort's apparent sister, didn't seem to hate him like Voldemort did. He thought she was pretty much funny, but was only a little bit scary. But the three teenagers though… Well Miss Riddle seemed perfectly capable of keeping them in line.

_"Harry?"_ There was a high whisper, and he jumped around. He was alone in his room, but could've sworn that he had heard Miss Riddle's voice. That overly high, snake like whisper she seemed to possess. He laid back down on his bed but couldn't concentrate. Any minute now, Mrs. Weasley was going to call him and his empty stomach done for dinner. It was now 8:24 at night, and in less then twelve hours he and the rest of the children upstairs were going to Kings Cross Station for the Hogwarts train. He looked over to a portrait of a snake and sighed.

_"Hello?" _He whispered, figuring that someone might talk back to him. If Miss Riddle was really Voldemort's sister, well then she would understand his Parcel Tongue.

_I just imagined it._ Harry thought after a few seconds. There was no way that she snuck into his room. He decided.

"_Hello." _He jumped. She _was _here. But where? Harry got up off his four portrait bed and looked around the large room. Should he tell the order? No! A voice in his head told him. There was no way that Harry was going to bother them with the fact that there was a woman whispering in his head. He jumped again when there was a soft knock at the door. He ran to the door and took a deep breath. He swung the door open.

"Hello Miss Rid-!" Harry shut his mouth when the person who knocked was revealed to be Hermione and Ron. Both of their faces were scrunched up and pale.

"Mrs. Weasley told us to come and get you Harry, for dinner." Hermione said softy, barely higher then a whisper. Harry raised an eyebrow at Ron.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing of course. Except…" Ron leaned in with a quick look down the hall. "You'll never guess who's here." Ron whispered. And Harry's face lit up. Now he knew where that whispering came from. She's downstairs! You see… Harry has been very _taken _with Miss Riddle ever since he met her.

"I have a guess. Let's go." Harry said, and ran down the staircase. When he was at the bottom of the stairs, he slowed to a stop. Mrs. Weasley was alone in the hallway, looking panic stricken.

"Harry, I have to tell you something." She whispered. Pulling him away from the cracked dinning room door. Hermione and Ron waited at the foot of the stairs for him while he talked.

"Harry, remember those four, _lovely _women who stopped by about a month ago?" Mrs. Weasley said with gritted teeth, and Harry nodded excitedly. "Oh, are they here?" Harry asked, with a smile tipping at the corner of his lips.

"Yes. And their staying for dinner. Just promise me you'll be careful. I'm afraid that they aren't as composed and happy as they were the last time they visited." Molly Weasley pleaded with Harry, and he nodded.

"Of course Mrs. Weasley." Harry promised, and she dragged him to the cracked open door. She peaked in, and gave a loud tsk. "I swear that girl isn't right! I can't believe she even… Urgh! In you go! Molly grumbled under her breath, and the Golden Trio shuffled inside the room. The scene inside was…disturbing.

Harry sat down next to Bella, Sirius's daughter, and watched her drink. She was gulping down a large bottle of some kind of liquor, getting drunk off her rocks.

"Hello, Boy who pathetically lived." She breathed with a drunken chuckle, and tipped her head back. Next to her, Ginger was smoking what seemed to be some kind of rolled up wrapper, which was obviously marijuana , and having a smoky conversation with Taylor.

"Like what you see?" Bella whispered teasingly with another breezy chuckle, and Harry wondered how old she actually was when she started drinking.

"Ugh… I guess." He muttered awkwardly, and averted his eyes to Miss Riddle. She was neither smoking nor drinking, but in a pleasant whisper conversation with Mad eyed Moody.

"So… What do you work as? "Sirius said, trying to engage his own daughter in a conversation. Harry didn't blame him, but couldn't help but think that it was a lost cause. Bella obviously was a juvenile, and hated him.

Bella looked up from her liquor and shrugged. "I sleep with some guys down at Knockturn Alley and they pay me. That's work I guess-!"

"Stop lying Bells! As if anyone would pay for that-!"

Bella swung at Ginger's head with her bottle, which connected with a loud _crack_. "Ow!" Ginger said sarcastically, making the both of them laugh. Juliunna laughed when Bella put down her bottle.

"Ginger, pass the weed." Bella said holding out her hand expectedly. Mrs. Weasley watched in disgust as Ginger passed her joint to Bella, who took a long, deep, inhale. Everyone watched as she held it in, looking around the room. It must have been a full minute until she exhaled that sweet, intoxicating smoke. Her eyes rolled up to her head as she breathed it out.

"So… Want a try?" Bella held out her joint to Ginny Weasley, and Molly jumped up with a yell. "I don't think so!" She flicked her wand in Bella's direction, and the joint diminished in smoke.

"What?! Come on!" Bella yelled, and grabbed the bottle again. Harry flinched away from her as she gulped down more of the fiery liquor.

"So, who's going to Hogwarts tomorrow?" Taylor asked, trying to change the subject.

Harry, Hermione, Fred and George, Ron, and Ginny raised their hands. But to the orders surprise, so did Miss Riddle, Taylor, Ginger, and Bella.

"Wait, why are you all going to Hogwarts?" Molly Weasley asked, mentally praying it was a huge joke. Harry however, grinned wildly.

"Well, I'm going because I got a teaching job. It's a whole new course that I came up with. Taylor, Ginger and Bella are going back to school. They never did finish their education." Juliunna shot a look at her three friends, who grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, whatever. The real reason we're going is because theirs no way we'd leave Jules alone. Right Julie?" Bella smirked, and the four of them gave each other knowing looks.

"I have a question. Are you three her body guards?" Ginny asked, and Harry could've sworn that Mrs. Weasley pinched her for asking that question.

"You can say that. We just prefer to stick together for protection red head." Taylor said, picking at her shirt. She kept looking at her watch worriedly.

"Could I use your fireplace-?"

"Taylor! I believe that Zack will be okay for an hour with your father. Stop worrying." Juliunna teased her, but Taylor growled.

"Yes, but its 8:45 already. What if he forgets to look at the list? At eight forty five Zack needs his bath!" She growled. The order watched and listened to her grumble for a few minutes, but didn't say anything. In the kitchen door, there was a loud _beep_, and Mrs. Weasley jumped up.

"I better go get dinner. Be right back." Mrs. Weasley said, and shuffled off in that direction. Bella ruffled around in her purse and sweared loudly when she came up empty.

"Where'd it go? Tay Tay, I put my knife in my purse, where'd it go?"

"First off, don't call me Tay Tay. Second, what do you need a knife for?"

"You know that I need to open up my veins before I eat! It feels better, and I know you had my purse earlier, and my knife was there earlier!"

"Why do you need to open up your veins before you eat?" Ginny asked, and this time Fred and George kicked her under the table.

"She needs to open up her veins to get rid of all those troubles she got-!"

"Shut up Tay Tay!"

"Don't call me Tay Tay!" Taylor yelled, and reached across the table to smack Bella upside the head. When she pulled it away, Bella rubbed hers painfully. "Don't make me stand up!" She yelled, grabbing Ginger's purse. To everyone's shock, she pulled a twelve inch boning knife out of Ginger's and pulled it on Taylor.

"Whoa, whoa ladies we don't need to fight-!" Bella interrupted Sirius by jumping at Taylor. Bella stabbed at her too early, but Taylor being so good, dodged it, and the knife ending up stabbing the back of her chair.

"**ARGH!" **They screamed, pushing and punching each other. Harry and everyone else watched in horror as they both grabbed the knives on the table and started swiping at each other. Well, everyone but Miss Riddle and Ginger. Miss Riddle tapped Ginger's shoulder and muttered, "Break it up." In her ear.

Within seconds, Ginger had her wand out, and both Bella and Taylor were thrown twenty feet from each other, both smashing into a wall.

"Nice." Miss Riddle muttered, appraisingly, and Ginger smirked.

"I'm leaving!" Bella shouted, jumping up. Ginger and Taylor were both smirking, as Bella grabbed a large amount of Floo Powder.

"Not my fault you're a sore loser!" Taylor shouted angrily, wiping a piece of dry blood from her cheek. Juliunna hissed loudly, clutching her arm, the three of the other girls doing the same.

"Oh come on! Why does the Dark Lord always seem to call when I have to go nurse a hang over?!" Bella shouted, and Apperated to who knows where.

"Plus a bloody wound." Taylor muttered, Apparerating too.

"Eh. I've got no problem." Ginger shrugged, and she Apperated away.

Juliunna, the last one there, looked around at the Order, who was looking shocked and horrified. Molly walked in clutching large bowls of food, but looked surprise and confused.

"Well, duty calls. Goodbye everyone. Thank you for the invite, and I'm sorry that we couldn't stay for dinner. Goodbye." She announced, and twirled in a disappearing cloud.

After a moment, Hermione cleared her throat. "Mrs. Weasley, why doesn't the Ministry arrest those women for being Death Eaters. I mean everyone knows who they are." Hermione asked, and a shadow crossed Mrs. Weasley's face.

"Dumbledore told us to pardon them. And the Ministry has made immune to all laws." Mrs. Weasley scowled.

"But why?" Ginny asked, and the twins kicked her again.

"Stop kicking me under the table!" She shouted, but this time Mad Eye Moody answered her question.

"Well its obvious isn't it? _You know who _has connections in the Ministry."

Harry frowned. This seems even bigger then he could suspect. He is of course right. But he couldn't imagine exactly how bad this was.


	3. Chapter 3: Train Ride

**Sorry. I was working on my other fics and thought of this fic today. But, I reward your patience with a one thousand word+ chapter, your welcome. **

**Love, BellatrixRemairaBlack.**

Chapter 3:

**Normal Pov**

Young Harry Potter was woken up in the next morning abruptly, by an already dressed Ron Weasley. "Come on Harry, mom says if we don't hurry we'll miss the train." Ron said, fastening the prefects badge he had gotten earlier this summer onto his chest. Harry jumped up with a large yawn, and started grabbing clothes to wear. He opened his trunk to find an outfit and when his hand closed around a blue shirt, he froze. _What the…_

His hands closed around a necklace sitting on top of the shirt, a golden one. It was a locket, with the name _Family _going across the gold cover in tiny red gems. "Ron? Is this yours by any chance?" Harry asked, holding his hand up. The locket hung from his closed fists. Ron's eyes narrowed suspiciously at it.

"No. But the Bella that was here last night, was wearing it. She had it at dinner. Did you just find that in your trunk?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded.

"Yeah. I wonder what it was doing there-!" His jaw clamped shut as he looked at the trunk again.

"Ron, my trunk was bolted shut last night." Harry said, remembering the fact that he had indeed bolted it after putting away his clothes.

"But that's impossible… Wait, no it isn't. Lets tell one of the order-!" But at that moment, Molly Weasley swung open the door and stuck her head in, eyes shut tight just in case the boys were getting dressed.

"One minutes boys. Get ready. Meet us all downstairs right now if your dressed." She speedily said, and shut the door tight before Harry could say anything.

"Dang it." Harry muttered, grabbing an outfit and getting dressed as quick as he could.

"What do you think it means?" Ron said, throwing a few last minute things into his large trunk.

"I think that it means Bella was going through my trunk. That's what I think it means." Harry muttered angrily. "She probably dropped it and didn't notice. What with how drunk she was."

"But you heard her Harry, she and the rest were called to a Death Eaters meeting. And that was at dinner! Do you really think she could have doubled back in the middle of the night?" Ron said, slamming his trunk shut at the exact second Harry shut his. "Come on, lets go." Harry muttered, stuffing the gold necklace into his jacket pocket.

The two boys grabbed their trunks and dragged the heavy things down the stairs. They could hear loud, boisterous talking downstairs, and both Ron and Harry came to a stop next to Hermione, who was looking pinched nosed again.

"Come on. We have to run for it. Siri… I mean _Fido_." Hermione said unceremoniously, and Harry turned around to see a black dog galloping towards them.

"Sirius! Dumbledore said no! Oh whatever, its your head." Molly grumbled, and then with a few more words, the whole order and the kids behind were jogging down the street.

"Straight to the train station?" Ron asked, knowing the station was only about a block away. "Yes. Fido get up there!" Molly barked at Sirius, who had trailed off to chase cat up a tree.

"Molly its fine." Tonks laughed, and giggled again when Sirius caught a bird between his teeth.

"Remus, left flank!" Moody barked at Remus, who had his nose buried in a book and was drifting towards the tree.

"I'll get on that." Remus called, getting back in his spot. The slow jog everyone had was changed to a fast run as the train station came into view. Sirius barked eagerly and galloped ahead of everyone.

"Nice Dog Harry." Harry looked to the boy with dread locks when they got into Platform nine and three quarters.

"Uh, thanks Jordan." Harry said, and the group went off to the train. Harry had nearly forgot about the necklace incident…

Until he saw Bella and Taylor and Ginger, standing by themselves in front of the train, glaring at people as if they were all disease reddened.

"Mrs. Weasley." Harry said quickly. As everyone in the group started saying goodbye, Harry walked quickly to her and pulled the necklace out of his pocket. He placed it in Mrs. Weasley's hand, and the kind smile turned to confusion.

"Someone broke into my trunk sometime between last night and this morning. I found the necklace in there, and Bella was wearing that necklace last night. I thought you should know." Harry said as serious as he could. Molly's face turned pale, and she looked over Harry's shoulder at what he knew was the girls.

"Harry, do me a favor okay?" She whispered fearfully, and leaned closer to his ear. "I don't want to frighten you, and I don't want to worry you. But I want you to stay safe. If those girls are suspicious in the slightest way, please owl us. But be discreet. I have the oddest suspicoun that those girls came back for you Harry." She said with a low whisper, a frightened look on his voice. Harry didn't want to bother her, and he in no way possible wanted to frighten her more.

"Of course I will Mrs. Weasley. I'll owl you if anything suspicious happens. But I'm sure that its all in my head okay? Don't worry about me." Harry said, and when he finished talking, the train's whistle run. Students and parents were hugging all over the platform, and students were starting to get on. Harry peeked over his shoulder at the girls, but frowned. They were gone.

"Oh Harry." Mrs. Weasley cried, and then gathered him in a tight hug.

"Its all going to be okay Mrs. Weasley." Harry sighed, hugging her back. When she let go, Harry was guided by Hermione and Ron onto the train. They glanced out the window as the train started moving, and they spotted Sirius in dog form. He was running across the platform and chasing the train, panting like an actual dog. Students leaned outside the window and laughed at him joyously.

"Well." Harry said promptly when they couldn't see the others anymore. "Lets find a seat." He said, and Ron and Hermione shared quick, nervous looks at each other.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Well, you see, the prefects have to go to a meeting. We shouldn't be gone for long." Hermione said, shifting her fingernails.

"Oh," Harry said, a little crestfallen. "Well its okay. Ginny and I will find a seat." Harry said, and Ginny nodded next to Harry.

"Bye guys. We'll be back Harry. In a few minutes or so." Hermione said, and Harry nodded with a frown.

"Its okay, really, take your time." Harry said, and the four of them continued down the hallway a little.

"Well, I guess this is where we get off-!" Hermione said, but jumped and spun around when the carriage door across from the prefects carriage slammed shut. The four of them turned around to see Bella, a large smirk on her face.

"Hello, _baby phenoix's._." Bella pouted mockingly, both arms crossed on top of her head as she leaned against the door.

"What do you mean by that?" Ginny asked, stretching on her toes to glance Bella in the eyes curiously.

"Well, _Lil Red_," Bella purred sarcastically, and stretched off the wall to look at Ginny. "I mean you guys are the Order of Phenoix in training. You're the kids, duh." Bella sighed, rolling her eyes at Ginny as if she was stupid.

"Bella… What is that on your shirt?" Hermione asked, leaning forward.

"Oh, its homemade." Bella smirked devilishly, and spread out bottom of the cloth in her long sleeve white t-shirt so that Hermione could see. Harry frowned. In bright red letters, were five large words going across her stomach.

_Dumbledore is a manipulative liar._

"Your foul." Hermione said instantly, surprising Harry. Usually Hermione was the one who said to ignore and just walk away.

"Oh I'm sorry Miss Mudblood, but I'm just speaking the truth. Its about time that you babies down at Hogwarts stop holding onto Dumbledore like's a security blanket." Bella said, rolling her eyes. Harry stepped forward, clutching his wand in his coat pocket, but Ron grabbed his shoulders.

"Dude she's just a girl-!" Ron started, but in seconds, Bella had Ron pinned against the wall, her wand pointed against his cheek.

"I can fight my own battle's Weasel, and I am more powerful then just any girl. Remember that night about a few nights ago when I blasted you across the hallway?" Bella asked mockingly, tilting her head to the side. Bella froze. Another wand came out of nowhere, poking her cheek. Hermione had whipped hers out.

"Hermione!" Harry said, trying to get her to stop, but Hermione just shook her head.

"Leave him alone." Hermione sounded out, and Bella looked as though for an instant, she was going to drop her wand and back away from Ron.

"Hmm," Bella lowered her wand and put it in her pocket. Then, just as Hermione was lowering her wand, Bella swooped down across the floor and kicks Hermione hard. Hermione fell to the floor and everyone screamed in shock.

"Why you little brat!" Hermione shouted, and lifted her wand in Bella's direction.

"Weren't you ever told little mudblood, to watch your tongue?" Bella sneered. _"Langlock!" _Bella sneered quietly, and Hermione squeaked. Her hands flew to her close mouth and gripped her face.

"Langlock, glues the tongue to the top of the mouth." Ginny said quietly, and Bella smirked

"Right you are little red, now if you excuse me, I have to go tell my friends I just kicked a mudblood's butt."

"Don't call her a mudblood!" Ron said, but Bella disappeared into her carriage with a laugh.

"I hate that girl." Hermione muttered as soon as Ginny performed he counter curse.

"Well yeah, of course you do. But I think she hates you more then she hates me." Ginny said, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ginny, you don't really think that Bella is cool, do you?" Harry said, and Ginny paused.

"Well, you have to admit she's at least a little cool. She's really bad and everything, and rebellious. She's awesome. Sorry Hermione." Ginny called as Hermione stood up, a bruise fresh on her ankle from where Bella had kicked her.

"She's a foul, loathsome, evil little girl-!"

"She's… Well she's… Sure, whatever you say Hermione." Ginny said.

"Oh no, Ginny get ready to join the Bad Girls Fan club."

"Shut up Ron." She muttered, her face as read as her hair.


	4. The Sorting Hats new Song

**This will be my longest chapter yet. Enjoy my faithful readers. And please review.**

Chapter 4:

**Normal Pov**

"Hogwarts is just going to the dogs." Harry heard Draco Malfoy say. He was sitting in his train compartment with Luna, Neville, and Ginny. Ron and Hermione should be back soon, but there was an interesting commotion from the Slytherins outside in the hall.

"Yes it is. God I can't wait until we get there. I suspect that the place is foul and out of order. Dumbledore is just an old crackpot." Harry growled at what he was hearing. It seemed that Draco Malfoy and all his cronies were in the hall, with Bella and Ginger. Taylor was either staying silent, or not there at all.

"Out of our way." Harry heard a sneer from a new comer, and paled. Hermione and Ron had finally arrived.

"Oh Weasel, Mudblood. You sit here?" He heard a pleasant gasp from Ginger, and could only guess that she was pointing inside the compartment.

"Just ignore them Ron." Hermione said, and with a few laughs from the Slytherins, Hermione and Ron managed to shuffle inside the room, and slam the door behind them loudly.

"Harry, you're never going to believe what those foul, evil girls are handing out. Look-!" Hermione spit out angrily, and pushed a golden badge at Harry.

He scooped it up and his eyes trailed down the badge quickly. He glared at it. Going across the badge in gold words were, _Potter the freak._

"Its Potter stinks all over again." Luna commented, looking dreamily at the badge.

__"Exactly. Their trying to turn everyone at school against you Harry." Ron fumed, and Luna took the badge from Harry's hands, rubbing her fingers over the soft gold.

"It's beautiful. Can I have it Harry?" She asked, taking it and placing it on her chest.

"Luna no, it's just a stupid trinket." Harry said in the manner a parent tells their children when an object is too expensive. But then the door swung opened.

"Ha, yeah. Get in here ladies; you know Mr. Scar face might want one." Harry heard Bella say, and he scowled wildly. Bella, Ginger, and Taylor shuffled into the room. Taylor slapped Bella upside the head roughly when the door was shut again.

"Will you stop talking so loudly? Zack's trying to take a nap." She grumbled, and that peaked Ginny's curiosity.

"Zack… Is that your baby? Where is he?" Ginny asked, and Luna looked at the pack on Taylor's shoulder.

"Your pack, is it filled with Nargles?" Luna asked before Taylor could open her mouth. The three girls stared at Luna with a hardened look, who must have thought they were curious.

"Nargles, there invisible fluffy creatures that float around inside your ears and out the other end. At least that's what they like to do." Luna smiled serenely, and Bella smiled with a mocking awkwardness.

"Yeah um… Okay. And no, the bag is not filled with Nargles. What's actually in there is-!"

"Aha!" There came a small shout, and Zack shot up at of the flap. There was an Easter head band on his head with movable rabbit ears.

"That baby! Did Dumbledore say you can bring him?" Hermione said, and Luna got up from her seat, her eyes bulging with happiness.

"He's adorable." Both she and Ginny said. Zack was a small baby, who looked that if he were to stand up, the top of his jelled blond hair would reach below Harry's knees. His small, pale, and rounded face was complete with dimples. His eyes shone brightly, and he smiled at everything he saw. He was an observant baby too, barely blinked when he stared.

"Does it matter to you whether or not I can bring my child?" Taylor snapped at her, brushing her long hair over her ear and taking a seat. She pulled Zack out of her pack and placed him on the floor, where he flopped onto his belly immediately, smacking the floor with his palm and looking curious.

"Well, seeing as if I am a prefect, it actually does matter." Hermione said a plump glare on her lips.

"Well I don't think its any of your business." Bella sneered, sitting next to Taylor, and Ginger sat opposite her.

"You can not bring children to Hogwarts who aren't standard age." Hermione said, her lips bubbling angrily. Harry wished she'd stop talking before one of the other girls started a fight.

"Really, well judging by your appearance Granger they have decided to add beavers to the list of animals children can bring. Isn't that right Ginger?" Bella asked, Ginger with a smirk, and Ginger laughed loudly. "I didn't get the memo, but if she's here its obviously true." Taylor laughed, and the three of them burst into cackling giggles. Hermione's face went red.

The door opened for the second time, and everyone turned to the door. Unsurprising to Harry, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were smirking around at them all, a gleeful look on their faces.

"What?" Harry asked aggressively before Draco could open his mouth.

"Manners Potter or I just might have to give you detention." Draco drawled out, and made a show of stepping over Zack, and Crabbe and Goyle followed him.

"You see I, unlike you, have been made a Prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments." He drawled out, a smirk on his face. Zack reached over and pulled at Draco's pant legs, fascinated at the shining glint of a gold button at the bottom.

"Yeah," Harry said. "But you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone." Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville laughed. Draco's lips curled.

"Tell me, how does it feel to be second best to Weasley for once Potter?" He asked, smirking. He moved his leg widely, trying to get Zack off.

"Shut up Malfoy." Hermione said sharply, and Bella glared at her.

"I seem to have touched a nerve," Draco drawled slightly, and stepped over Zack again, who got rolled over onto his back in a successful attempt to hold onto Draco's pant leg. "Just watch yourself Potter. Because I'll be _dogging _your footsteps in case you step out of line."

"Get out!" Hermione said, standing up.

Sniggering, Malfoy gave Harry a last malicious look and headed for the door. With Crabbe and Goyle behind him, Draco had only gotten rid of baby Zack once Goyle picked him up gently and placed him back inside the room. Hermione shut the door with a loud snap and glared at Draco as he walked down the hall, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Stupid git." She grumbled, and at once all three of the girls started laughing.

"You got that _dogging_ comment, right Taylor?" Bella said in between laughs, and Taylor nodded, a smirk on her face.

"Yep. It was a really _serious _joke." She laughed, and they broke into laughs again.

Harry paled, looking over at them. Hermione had gotten the joke too and they both shared paled looks. Malfoy knows that Sirius was on the platform, and that he could change into a dog. And the girls know too obviously.

"Did you like Draco's shiny clip on?" Ginger cooed to Zack, who had stood up to full height and was banging on the door loudly.

"I think it's the fact that they were shiny in the first place. You know he can't resist sparkly stuff." Taylor said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a bracelet, which sparkled when it hit the sun light in the window.

"Want the bracelet Zackie? Want the bracelet? Go fetch it." Bella cooed, and snatching the bracelet from Taylor's hands, threw it against the wall far farest from the door, and Zack went running.

Luna and Ginger giggled, watching Zack run for it.

"I wonder," Hermione started, her voice hardened and her teeth clenched.

"What house are you three going to get into? Will you three have to be taking the Sorting Hat, are will you just be jetted into Slytherin with all the other monsters?" Hermione asked, and Ginger and Bella stood up quickly, wands at the ready. Harry and Ron were ready to get their wands out, but at that moment, they had a distraction.

The door opened up and the lady who had the cart of sweets came in. "Anything from the trolley dears?" She asked sweetly, and with some smart, whispered words shared between Bella and Ginger, they both sat down.

"Actually." Bella said with a hardened look on her face, and to Harry's surprise, pointed her own wand at her stomach. "We're going to be sorted with all the other first years. Its only fair in assuming we get in our right houses." She whispered, and Harry wondered if Dumbledore wrote to her in a letter.

She dragged her wand against the small bit of exposed skin on her stomach, and the wand left behind a thin, but nevertheless bloody cut.

"Weirdo." Hermione said, coughing into her hand. Bella just smirked, shaking her head and a small chuckle at her lips.

"Hermione stop talking to her, she's just doing it to make you mad." Harry whispered, but Hermione just scowled.

"Whatever."

**The Sorting Hats New Song (The Grand Hall)**

Harry, Hermione, and Ron watched Bella, Ginger, and Taylor up ahead with the rest of the first years. Bella and her two friends were feigning boredom, as Dumbledore talked, introducing the Sorting Hat. Hermione could of swore that Ginger has gave a first year girl the finger, when said first year leaned forward to say, _Aren't you three a little old to be sorted?_

Everyone looked at the sorting hat, ready to pay attention.

"_In times of old when I was new_

_And Hogwarts barely started_

_The founders of our noble school_

_Thought never to be parted:_

_United by a Common Goal_

_They had the selfsame yearning,_

_ To make the world's best magic school_

_And pass along their learning._

"_Together we will build and teach!"_

_The four good friends decided._

_And never did they dream that they_

_Might someday be divided._

_For where there such friends anywhere_

_As Slytherin and Gryffindor?_

_Unless it was the second pair_

_Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw_

_So how could it have gone so wrong?_

_How could such friendships fail?_

_Why I was there and so can tell_

_The whole sad, sorry tail._

_Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those_

_Whose ancestry is purest"_

_Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose_

_Intelligence is surest." _

_Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those_

_Which brave deeds to their name."_

_Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lost,_

_ And treat them just the same,"_

_There differences caused little strife_

_When first they came to light,_

_For each of the four founders, had _

_A house in which they might_

_Take only those they wanted, so._

_For instance, Slytherin._

_Took only pure blooded wizards_

_Of great cunning just like him._

_And only those of sharpest mind_

_Were taught by Ravenclaw._

_While the bravest and the boldest_

_Went to daring Gryffindor._

_Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest_

_And taught them all she knew._

_Thus the Houses and their founders,_

_Retained friendships firm and true._

_So Hogwarts worked in harmony_

_For several happy years._

_But then discord crept among us_

_Feeding on out faults and fears._

_The Houses that like pillars four,_

_Had once held up our school._

_Now turned upon each other and,_

_Divided, sought to rule._

_And for a while it seemed the school_

_Must meet an early end._

_What with dueling and with fighting_

_And the clash of friend on friend._

_And at last their came a morning._

_When old Slytherin departed._

_And though fighting then died out_

_He left us quite downhearted._

_And never since the founders four_

_Were whittled down to three_

_Have the Houses been you united_

_As they were once meant to be._

_And now the Sorting Hat is here_

_And you all know the score._

_I sort you into Houses._

_For that is what I'm for;_

_But this year, I'll go further._

_Listen closely to my song:_

_Though condemned I am to split you_

_Still I worry that it's wrong._

_Though I must fulfill my duty,_

_And must quarter every year._

_Still I wonder whether sorting._

_May not bring the end I fear._

_Oh, know the perils, read the signs._

_The warning History shows._

_For our Hogwarts is in danger,_

_From External, deadly foes._

_And we must unite inside her._

_Or we'll crumble from within._

_I have told, I have warned you._

_Let the sorting now begin._

The hat became quiet once more, and applause broke out. To Hermione's outrage, the girls turned around and stuck their pierced tongues at her, smirking and both feeling glee.

"Well that was an interesting song." Ron said, shooting looks at the hat. Professor McGonagall was holding up a large scroll of parchment, upon which all the names of the first years have been written on.

"Black, Isabella." Professor McGonagall spoke, and Bella strode forward, smirking wildly.

"Actually its Bella. Not Isabella." Bella said, and Harry heard Miss Riddle giggle. But when he looked to the teachers table, she wasn't there. Now that he thought about it, Professor Snape wasn't there either.

"Very well Bella. Get the hat on your head." Professor McGonagall said, and Isabella took the hat and examined it for a second.

"Nah, I'm fine. I prefer Slytherin house anyway." She said, and then to the rest of the schools shock, threw the hat back down and walked over to the Slytherin tables.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way Miss Black." Professor McGonagall said, but with two shared looks between Ginger and Taylor, they skipped to the Slytherin tables too and sat down next to Bella.

"Yeah, we chose here." They said, and Professor McGonagall looked scandalized.

"Professor please continue with the ceremony. Your embarrassing everyone." Bella said when Professor McGonagall glared at her.

"Very well." She said with gritted teeth, and then continued down the scroll. Hermione, next to Harry, pointed to a teacher dressed in a hedious pink corset next to Dumbledore. Her face made her look like a toad.

"She was at my hearing." Harry said, confusion in his eyes.

"She's our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Hermione said, frowning.

** A/N: She's also the person we want to die more then Voldemort. Heh.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Ginger/Bella's early days

**Normal Pov**

Late at night, when Ron, Hermione, and Harry were crowded around the Gryffindor Fire, they opened the package from Sirius and Remus. You see, a box was delivered there earlier at dinner, but none of them had the feeling that it was a friendly thing you could just show anyone. Inside, was a note.

"What does the bloody thing say?" Ron asked, and Hermione leaned closer, he curls falling over her shoulder.

_ "Just say 'Family' _to go inside." Hermione read aloud, and they discovered two books inside. "They're scrapbooks. Oh, and they're filled with memories!" She said, astonished, and Harry's eyes widened.

"How can you put memories into a scrapbook?" He asked, and Hermione smiled. "It takes years of research you know. Its very powerful magic. Lupin and Sirius, I suppose they wanted us to go inside the memories, to see them." She said, and Ron ran his fingers down the cover.

"There is a lot of them here. Look-!" He pointed to the cover. The books were at least a decade old, both green, and had gold names on them. On the left was _Ginger, _and on the right was _Bella_.

"I bet they were nightmares as children." Ron said, and Hermione took out Gingers first. When she opened it to the first page, there was nothing there but a note. _I was ashamed to speak of her name, to know we were related. She is no daughter of mine. Sorry for not telling the truth- Remus. _

"Lets start with her." Hermione said after a second, and flipped it to the second page. The picture of Ginger was frozen, Harry noted, and when he explained this to Hermione she huffed. "It's a memory Harry. It won't move until we're inside." She said, and the three of them placed a hand on the enlarged picture, breathing deeply.

"Maybe its better if we say it at the same time." Hermione said, and Ron nodded. "On three then?"

"One."

"Two."

"Three." Hermione finished.

"Family."

The three of them were jetted into the memory, swirled around inside the large picture, and then feet first onto the white carpet.

"Where are we?" Ron asked, but Harry could answer it perfectly, because he had been here before in a dream.

"This is my living room. In my parents house." Harry said, and Hermione's eyes widened. The three of them moved onto the kitchen, where he gasped. There was his father, a somewhat younger Remus and Sirius, and the traitor. Peter Pettigrew.

"Look." Harry said, and moved closer so that he was standing beside his father. He noticed that Remus looked very sick looking.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with her guys, she just keeps getting worst." Remus moaned, burying his head in his hands. James Potter patted his shoulder comfortably.

"Remus you act like she's crazy-!"

"She is!" Remus said, and Harry frowned. He felt so sorry for him. "She's crazy. You know, I almost kept her home today, because of Lily, but she might attack Denestia again-!"

"Wait, what about Lily?" He asked, and Remus frowned. "Ginger, I told you about how she's into Witchcraft right? The insane, sacrificial magic?"

"Yeah, you did." Sirius said, and Hermione gasped.

"She thinks that because Lily has red hair, she's some kind of evil demon that has tempted you and is trying to take over London."

"Ha!" James laughed, and Ron started chuckling into his hand. "It isn't funny Ron. Ginger is dangerous, remember." Hermione whispered.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you James. I overheard Bella and Ginger talking a few weeks ago." Remus whispered, and the four Mauraders leaned close together.

"What did they say?" Peter asked, and Remus sucked in a deep breath. "Well, when they found out Lily was pregnant, they started to think that Lily was carrying the Devil's child or something." He said, and James started laughing.

"That's not funny." Remus said. "I think they might be planning something-!"

"Look." Hermione whispered, pointing at something the Mauraders couldn't see. Harry and Ron froze, watching Ginger at the sink. She had snuck in somehow, and slowly plucked a steak knife out of the silverware dresser. Ginger was small, at least eight or nine years old. Her long, brown hair was full of curly ringlets, and they went down pass her shoulders. She was wearing a white, lacy dress, and small white shoes. She looked the picture of innocence, but everyone knew she was far from it.

"Oh my," Ron started, and they followed her quickly. Ginger ran silently pass the Mauraders, into the hallway, and up the spiraling stairs.

"My mother." Harry hoarsely said, glaring at the back of Ginger's head. They followed her into a bedroom, and the three of them narrowed in on Lily's form. She seemed to be six months along, with a medium size, protruding belly. Lily Potters head was rolling off to the side as she snored softly on her back. Her beautiful, curly red hair was covering her face, and her chest heaved up and down, her shoulder moving as she breathed.

"She's going to kill, my mother." Harry hoarsely said, and Ginger pulled back the blankets Lily was wearing softly. Harry stared at the stomach where he knew he was currently living in, and frowned fearfully.

"Demon temptress of the night, let you and your demon spawn die a horrible, painful death, so mote it be." Ginger whispered, and placed the knife above Lily's stomach.

"So mote it what?" Lily asked, yawning. She let her eyes open with a yawn, but then screamed. Ginger raised the knife higher, and was about to let it sink into Lily's stomach, but Lily grabbed onto the knife hard.

"Help! Help!" Lily screamed, and Ginger kicked with all her might. Harry could hear footsteps pounding up the stairs, and the sounds of yelling, but his eyes were trained on his mother.

"I have to kill you Aunt Lily, you're a demon!"

"Stop it! I'm not a demon! Your crazy!" Lily screamed, and Ginger pulled the hand holding the knife. She raised it up high, and Lily's hands flew to her stomach protectively.

"Ha!" Ginger screamed, and threw the hand down, but Lily rolled out of the way just in time, and the knife stabbed the bed.

"Stop struggling." Ginger had enough time to say, before Remus pushed her and she fell to the floor.

"Ouch! I was just trying to help-!"

"Lily! Are you okay?!" James called, and Ginger lunged at Lily with a scream. Knife in her hand, she raised it high, but to Harry's shock, Remus smacked Ginger across the face hard. She fell to the floor, and Sirius dove for the knife.

"I told you." Remus said, and kicked the knife from Ginger's hand as she tried to swipe at Sirius.

"I hate you." Ginger spat at him, and he glared at her.

"You disappoint me. What were you thinking?" He glared at her, and she looked around at the people surrounding her. James had Lily behind him, as she peeked over James shoulder at Ginger. Sirius was glaring hatefully at her. Peter was hiding behind Sirius fearfully.

"I was thinking that I was saving the world. Aunt Lily is a demon-!"

"Stop it." Remus said to her.

"And she's carrying an evil baby-!"

"Stop it." Remus repeated, but Lily kept talking.

"I hate her."

"Why do you hate me Ginger? I love you. Remember, I'm your Aunt Lily."

"Well maybe if you weren't such a redheaded demon I would actually like you. I hate you!" Ginger spit at her, and Lily jumped.

"I'm sorry guys, I'll take her home." Remus said, and picked Ginger up by her hair, she hissed.

"Your all going to die!" She screamed, and Remus pulled on her hair forcefully. Hermione gasped as he shook his fist back and fourth, making Ginger screamed.

"That's barbaric!"

"She deserved it!" Both Harry and Ron said, and the three of them were jetted out of the picture.

"Well, wasn't that pleasant." Ron joked, and Hermione hit him.

"How could Remus let Ginger turn out like that?"

"What?!" Both Ron and Harry turned on her, and she nodded. "Yes, I think part of it is his fault. She obviously acted out like that because of his form of discipline!"

"Hermione, she tried to kill my mother by stabbing her stomach! I was almost killed-!"

"Shaking her hair back and fourth like that! That's not discipline, it's abuse! And how would Ginger have found out about Witchcraft in the first place?!" She asked, stomping over to Bella's book.

"What? You think its all Remus fault? Ginger is a sick, sick little girl, and she's very weird. She just tried to kill Harry's mother, and your trying to blame Remus for it!" Harry said, glaring at her.

"Oh Harry, I'm just trying to think straight. Ginger, who was only nine years old, was wrapped thickly into the darkest of arts. Witchcraft! You've seen the way she acted! Do you think its possible that Remus was being careless and left a book open, and Ginger got a hold of it? But then, she would have to learn farther then one book. How would she learn about sacrifice? Or the fact that Karma has a lot to do with Witchcraft. 'So mote it be' is wearing of the Karma of course, but how would she have learned it-!"

"Hermione, this is Remus we're talking about. He's responsible-!"

"You know what guys, lets just look at Bella's and get it over with." Harry said, and Hermione muttered the word 'Family'. They all were jetted into a very pink room.

"Aww, look at this room." Hermione said, and they all looked around at the adorable stuffed animals around the pink bed. The walls, painted in pink paint were covered in sparkly stickers. There were light pink stickers on the books on Bella's bookshelf, and there was a large teddy bear enough for Harry to lounge comfortably on it.

"I don't understand. Why is she so evil when her room is so-!"

"Ahhhhh!" The three of them jumped, for the scream came from downstairs.

"Isabella Marie Black-!"

"I hate that name! Shut up!" Bella screamed, and they heard her stomping up the stairs.

"Why are you such a retard-?!"

"I hate you! You're the retard! I hate it here so much!"

"Well you don't have to stay here!"

"Oh where am I going to go? On the streets?!" Bella screamed, and she came barreling into the room.

**"Go to your roooooooooooom!"** Sirius yelled.

**"I am in my room you twat!"** Bella screamed, and slammed the door close.

"Whoa, okay, isn't this Déjà vu?" Ron joked, and Bella, who looked to be at least six, flipped a switch near the lamp.

"Get back Hermione." Ron said, and pulled her away just in time. Bella's bed rotated in a large circle. The walls flipped upside down, round and round, and the furniture too. Harry shut his eyes and jumped up on a large desk just in time, and when he opened his eyes, Hermione sniffed. Bella's room was filled with black clothing and black stuffed animals and black everything. There was a pentagram on the floor, with softly burning candles on the floor in the shape of a Wicca star.

"This room," Ron started. "Is the face of evil." He sighed, and Hermione stepped back. Bella reached over and grabbed a knife out of her lamp table, and grabbed out a sharpened steel knife.

"Oh my, I think I've seen enough." Hermione said, but at that moment, the door opened. Sirius walked in, a disappointed frown on his face. "Bella, I want to apologize for-!"

"Being an idiot! I know, now get out of my room!" She yelled, and stabbed the knife into her thigh. She winced, but barely made a sound.

"Okay, okay, I know. But Samantha wants to meet you? Huh, how about you and I meet her at the Leaky Cauldron tonight at eight-!"

"You mean your new booty call? I don't think so. Now get out of my room!" She screamed, and threw the knife at Sirius, who jumped out the door just in time.

"Blimey!" Ron said, as they were jetted out again.

"Women are crazy!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, here we go again. Ooh, and as an extra treat, I made a story called **_**Harry's Deathly Hallows**_**. Its pretty much the same plot, but their on Harry's side. So now there's the light side and the Dark side. Except Voldemort's adult sister is replaced with Lucius Malfoy's eighteen year old daughter.**

Chapter 6: Woman Beater

**Normal Pov**

"Do you realize how much homework we've got already? Binn set us a foot and a half log essay on giant wars, Snape wants a foot on the use of moonstones, and now we've got a month's dream diary from Trelawney! Fred and George weren't wrong about O.W.L year. That Umbridge woman better not give us any…" When everyone was finally in the classroom, Harry stopped listening to Ron blabber on, and looked around. Professor Umbridge was already seated at the teachers desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan from the night before, and the black velvet bow on top of her head. Harry was again reminded of a fly perched unwisely on top of an even larger toad.

The class was quiet as they entered, not knowing yet how strict of a teacher she'd be.

"Well, good afternoon!" She said when finally the whole class had sat down. A few people mumbled good morning in reply.

"Tut, Tut." Professor Umbridge said. "_That _won't do at all will it class? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good morning, Professor Umbridge. One more time please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon class!" The class bellowed. Harry looked up ahead. Sadly the only free spot was behind Ginger, Taylor, and Bella. Taylor had her book bag on. Harry, who was sitting directly behind her, couldn't help but smile when Zack popped out of the bag and sang, "Good morning, to you!"

"-You will all be pleased to know however, that these problems have been solved. We will be following a carefully instructed theory centered, Ministry-Approved course of Defensive Magic this year." Professor Umbridge twirped excitedly. Bella rolled her eyes.

"Oh boy, what fun." She drawled sarcastically, and then as Professor Umbridge waved her wand, books came zooming out of their original spots on her desks, and landed softly on the students desk.

"Yay! Books!" Zack cooed, and Professor Umbridge looked in their direction, were the noise had came from. Taylor gulped. But Professor Umbridge luckily seemed to think she had imagined it, for then she waved her hand and rolled her eyes.

"Everyone open up to the first page and read chapter one. We will all be quiet, as there will be no need for talking. Wands away." Professor Umbridge instructed. With a slight groan, Ginger reached behind Taylor and stuffed Zack back into the back. Hermione fumed.

"They can't bring in a baby." She grumbled, and there was a quick moment when Ginger turned around and looked Hermione in the eye. They stared each other down briefly. Hermione's knuckles turning while as she gripped her open cover tighter. She kept Gingers eyes frightenly, but Ginger merely rolled her eyes and turned back around.

"You're a loser." The three of them coughed, and Hermione went pink in the face.

"Harry, do you see the chalk board?" Ron asked, nudging him quietly. Harry looked up at the board. He read the notes Professor Umbridge had wrote earlier, and then thought for a while.

"Its… It's all about theories. There's nothing about using defensive spells." Harry whispered quietly, and then Hermione's head snapped to the board. "What… But…" She read it all. Her eyes read so fast her pupils seemed like blurs. And when she was finished, the class was all silent, their heads buried in their books trying to read the boring thing. Hermione raised her hand mutely, and waited.

Professor Umbridge, who had been sitting at the teacher's desk, kept on reading some kind of magazine. She didn't look up.

"Hey, is this class boring or what? Can't we just go hang out somewhere else?" Ginger groaned slightly, keeping her voice low as to not alert Professor Umbridge to her talking.

"You and I both know we have to be here." Bella lowered her voice to a low murmur, and Harry felt a pang of sudden anger. He took a small piece of paper and wrote on it with his quill

_Hello Isabella, you look lovely today. But I think theirs something missing._

_Have you recently misplaced your gold necklace in my bedroom?_

_-Harry._

He wrote neatly, and then waited a few seconds for the ink to dry. When he was sure no one was looking, he clutched the paper in his hand tightly. He leaned forward, tapped her shoulder, and then reached over her shoulder and dropped the crumpled paper up.

Immediately she turned around, and raised a sarcastic eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing?" She murmured softly, her voice almost inaudible. The other girls, Ginger and Taylor, turned to watch their small exchange. 'Read the note.' Harry mouthed wordlessly, and Bella shrugged. She turned to face her desk again, and made a show of flattening out the paper, and then raising it to her face.

He wanted to see her expression as he wrote it, but he didn't need to see her face to know she was angry. She tossed the paper ignorantly at Taylor, who handed it to Ginger. They both leaned closer to read the letter. After a second, the three of them turned around, and the three of them looked terribly agitated.

"I haven't the faintest idea what your talking about Potter." Isabella shrugged, looking as if she didn't have a care in the world. Harry smirked at her.

"I think you know exactly what I mean-!"

"I don't think you do!" Bella said, and then leaned forward so her elbow was on his desk. Hermione and Ron curiously looked over to them.

"If you have any common sense Potter, you'll stay out of me and my friends business. Unless you wish to go just like your whore mother-!" He couldn't help it. Those words were harmful. But hearing Bella say them, were like ten times worse. He leaned forward out of his seat, and slapped her across the face.

The class that had been so quiet, was suddenly interrupted with the sound of Harry's palm on Bella's cheek. The force of her throw sent Bella falling into the walk way. She slammed onto the floor hard, and everyone jumped up.

"**Professor Umbridge help! Harry Potter is assaulting Bella! Help!"** Taylor screamed, and the class turned to Harry. He still had his hand raised, too much in shock to comprehend what he had done.

"What, no, its not assault!" He tried to plead, but Professor Umbridge was already upon him.

"Detention Harry Potter, my office at eight. You do not fight in my class, especially with a lady!" She snapped, and Taylor leaned over, pulling Bella up from the floor.

"You two out into the hall. I want to know what happened. Oh dear are you okay?!" Professor Umbridge squeaked, and reached out to touch Bella's face. Her left cheek was red, Harry had really got her good.

"Yes Professor Umbridge I'm fine. I have to tell you, this wasn't the only time." Bella sobbed, and Harry's mouth dropped open. _She's going to testify against me, and make me seem like some women beater. I'll probably be thrown out of school!_

"This wasn't the first time! He hit you before?" Professor Umbridge said with astonishment, and Bella sniffed. Harry could tell she was faking it. The class gasped.

"Yes. He's been like this all week. Could I tell you the story in the hall? And could my friends come with me, I don't feel safe with him-!"

"That's bull-!"

"Bite your tongue Mr. Potter. Of course you may bring your friends my dear. Shall we?" She asked, and grabbed Harry by the ear. Umbridge pulled him along roughly as the other girls walked beside Bella. Umbridge was in the lead. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw the girls huddled together. His eyes met with Bella's, and she smirked evilly. He gulped.

When all five of them were in the hall and the door was closed shut, Harry was thrown into the wall.

"Well Miss Black, could you please tell me the story of what had happened?" Professor Umbridge said, and Bella sniffed again, a despaired fakeness air on her face.

"Harry Potter, he's crazy you see. You see, my adoptive parents know the Weasley's, and ever since I met him at the beginning of summer, he's been acting so strange. His obsession for me is so bizarre, he's been very violent lately-!"

"My obsession for you?! Are you kidding me-!"

"Mr. Potter you are already facing a weeks worth of detention, probably a cell in Azkaban if you don't shut your mouth. Miss Black please continue." Professor Umbridge said. Bella sniffed dramatically.

"Well what happened was that I was trying to pay attention to the chapter. But I was having a little difficulty, because I was admiring your lovely bow on top of your hair. Is it that new fashion line, Octivio?"

"Why yes it is, thank you for noticing." Professor Umbridge gushed.

"Nice, it really sets off your beautiful hair. Did you just get it done?"

"Oh yes, thank you. Best fifthteen galleonsI've ever spent." Professor Umbridge said, patting her hair fondly.

"Yes, really sets off your glowing skin tone." Ginger commented, and Umbridge was smiling wilder then ever.

"Can we get back to the story?!" Harry snapped abruptly, and Bella smirked secretly at him.

"Almost every day Professor, he's been sending me coded dirty notes. He words them so that if a teacher were to read, they would think it a common note. But he's always sending me dirty smirks. Look, he sent me one right before he smacked me. I had turned around to tell him to pay attention in class, and if he didn't stop I would tell. Well he got really angry at that. Look, he's fooled almost all the adults with these types of letters. I wish I could show you more, but I almost always throw them out or rip them up the second he gives them to me. Here, read this-!"

"It wasn't a dirty note. I'm not assaulting her-!"

"Don't worry Bella, he can't hurt you." Ginger said, wrapping an arm around Bella's shoulders when Harry shouted. Bella buried her face in the crook of Ginger's neck, and Harry could of sworn he heard quiet giggles.

Taylor handed the note to Umbridge whose brain gears went into work as she read the note.

"Mr. Potter, handing ladies dirty notes during my class? Please Taylor, could you explain what this note means?" Professor Umbridge said, glancing at Taylor curiously. Taylor nodded. Putting on a brave looking face, after throwing a frightened look at Harry, who was breathing roughly.

"_Hello Isabella, you look lovely today. But I think theirs something missing._

_Have you recently misplaced your gold necklace in my bedroom?_

_-Harry._

Actually means that he thinks she looks hot today, and wants to take her to his bedroom. Do I need to continue Professor? Because I think its clear enough what that pervert means to do." Taylor said, glowering at Harry, who felt his stomach drop into his waist.

"She, she snuck into my bedroom and went through my things. She left her gold necklace in my bedroom-!"

"That's absurd! A proper lady does not enter a boy's room without permission. And why would I need boy things? Ew." Bella said fearfully, and hid behind Ginger to peek over Ginger's burly shoulder fearfully.

"You… You're a death eater!" Harry shouted, and Bella jumped as if he had been hit. "That's absurd. Your just trying to turn all your problems on others! It might have worked for Dumbledore, but I'm sure that Professor Umbridge won't fall for it!" Bella sneered.

Professor Umbridge glared at him. "Mr. Potter, you will be in detention for two hours, ever night for the rest of the week. Starting at five o'clock every evening. Do you hear me?"

"No!" Harry shouted, and Bella jumped as if she had been shocked.

"I have Gryffindor Quidditch Tryouts." He said, frowning, but Professor Umbridge smiled ever so fakily sweet.

"Assaulting a lady, harassing her all summer, and passing dirty notes in my class room? Your luck you don't get expelled. Now, here." She pulled a note out of her pocket and gave it to Harry. He frowned.

"What's this?" He asked, and Professor Umbridge smirked.

"Give this to Minerva McGonagall please, at the moment now." She smirked, and Harry walked away. But right before he rounded the corner, he looked back. Ginger, Bella, and Taylor were all smirking at him, and Bella had the biggest of them all. So with a scowl of defeat, he slumped off, angrier then he'd ever been in his whole life.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

**Normal Pov**

The next day, it was rainy and depressing outside. Inside, at the breakfast table, Hagrid was as absent as he was the other day.

"But on the plus side, no Snape today." Ron said bracingly. Hermione yawned widely and then poured herself some coffee. "Which Snape?" Harry asked. He looked to the schedual he had picked up, and dissapointingl, still hadn't seen Professor Snape's (Female) class. When he had seen Professor Snape (Male) in potions, he was as rickety and sullen as ever, and had given Harry no reason to believe that he even knew that Miss Riddle was here, or even existed. He had seen neither hide nor hair of her since Grimmauld Place.

"Mr. Snape of course. I don't even know how Mrs. Snape will be as a teacher, I hope she knows what she's doing. In fact, her class isn't even listed on the schedual." Hermione started, and the three female Mauraders gone bad walked by at that moment. Bella, slowling down, leaned closer to Hermione's face. "That's because she's still trying to decide what class she'll take. She's been offered two. A teacher for the most intelligent witches and wizards of the school, and one as a kind and helping counselor. Hey Potter, you should visit her if she takes the second job. _You know who _would be pleased-!"

"Shut up! How about that pretty little face of yours? I think that bruise is the prettiest thing on your face." Harry shouted at her, and people in the room gasped.

"Ah!" Bella dramatically shouted, and Taylor and Ginger threw their arms around Bella's shoulder comfortingly. "All I tried to do was tell him I don't blame him for hitting me-!"

**"You manipulative liar!" **Harry shouted, and a few Slytherins jumped up when Bella burst into fake tears. Teachers looked their way, and Harry's face grew desperately red when everyone in the Great Hall turned towards them.

"What?!" Ginger shouted suddenly, and then jumped back as if he had just burnt her. "You know what? Harry how could you say that?!" Everyone gasped at the mention of Voldemort.

"He didn't say anything!" Hermione shouted, and Harry's lips pursed in anger. Taylor smirked to him secretly. "Really?! Potter, I say you keep your lies about _You Know_ _Who_ to yourself when you are in the walls of this school. Save those lies for the summer and your few friends! School is no place for these lies-!"

"I didn't say anything to you." Harry murmured quickly, leaning forward, and Bella jumped back. "**What?! **You want to see my what-!" The crowd burst into gasps, and Harry's face glowed bright red. Ron glared at her.

"Get away from us-!"

"You want to take me where Weasley?!" Bella shouted over his embarrassed whisper, and his face went as red as his hair.

"No! No Professor Umbride their lying!" Hermione shouted when Professor Umbridge's lips pursed disgustingly at Harry and Ron, shaking her head. Everyone looked to Bella, Ginger, and Taylor, who were each shivering in their spots, clutching to each other and acting like wet cats. Then they looked to Harry, who had made a mistake in thinking that they had believed him, and allowed himself to smirk confidently. He wiped it off of his face too late.

"May I lock him up in the Dungeons Professor Umbridge?" Draco asked, standing up hopefully. Professor Umbridge looked away from the three girls and then turned to Harry. "However the helpful Mr. Malfoy. Of course. Crabbe and Goyle can help you." Professor Umbridge announced, and the three of them bounded over to Harry, who bristled angrily.

"But-! But! How long until I get to leave?!" Harry shouted, and the children all over the Great Hall bent their heads together to whisper.

"Classes don't start for another half hour Mr. Potter. You may leave and go to your classes. You will come to my office at eight o'clock tonight for your first session of detention." Professor Umbridge said, smiling wildly. Harry froze, and then stared at her coldly. He glared at the back of Bella, Taylor, and Ginger's heads as they continued towards the Slytherin table. He couldn't believe that those girls were the offsprings of their fathers.

Sirius and Remus, two kind souls that worked for the savior of the Wizarding World, produced two evil death eaters named Bella and Ginger, that worked to tear it down. Taylor, while Pettigrew himself had bad choices in life, was not courageous like Taylor. She was daring and ignorant, and he had no doubt that she was more evil then her father.

"I hate them." Harry muttered as Draco took his shoulder, leading him towards the door. Draco smirked at him. "Hate who? Those girls?"

"Who do you think?" Harry snapped at him as they rounded the corner, obsealing themselves from the view of the Great Hall. Draco let go of Harry's shoulder, but kept close just in case.

"Yeah, their worst then me, but their cool most of the time-!"

"Well to you of course they are! Your both on the same side." Harry snapped at him absently. Draco shrugged nonchalantly. "Not everything is what you'd expect it to be Potter. They don't like me anymore then they like you. Wait, okay, a little more then they like you." Draco laughed, and Harry shrugged his shoulders with an eye roll. "I guess that seems true." Harry laughed, and then Draco thought slightly.

"Heh, you've seen Professor Snape's wife yet?"

"Nope. But I did see her over the summer. A few days ago pretty much." Harry said, and they both went to the Slytherin stairs. Draco smirked at him.

"She's hot right-!"

"Oh so hot!" Harry groaned, and they both started laughing hard. "Potter, you don't know her like I do. She's my godmother. I've been hugging her ever since I was little. Have you ever hugged her yet-!"

"No. But now I want to. What's it like?" Harry asked, and Draco grinned mischeviously.

"She always squeezes you into her chest. She's been breast feeding and so they're really tender, and she always arches when she hugs me. Their huge!" Draco chortled, and the two of them rounded into the Slytherin Common room, coming face to face with Professor Snape. He raised an angry eyebrow at the two of them, and then gripped both of them by their hairs.

"Ow!" Harry snapped as the two of them were dragged upstairs, Snape going extra tough on Draco.

"Detention for both of you-!"

"For what?!" Harry snapped. "For talking about his hot wife-!" Severus hit Draco upside the head for that comment, and then the three of them proceeded up the stairs.

"Wait, Professor Snape, I already have Detention all week-!"

"Well now you have detention all week for me too. You can both stay for two hours starting at six, tonight-!"

"But then I have to go to Professor Umbridge's right afterward!"

"Good for you Potter." Snape said coolly.

"Oh man." Draco moaned. "But Professor, we weren't talking about Juliunna, we were talking about a different Professor Snape's wife." Draco said weakly, and Professor Snape twisted Draco's head to look at him. "Draco tell me, how many wives do I have?"

"Its hard to believe that you even have one. So two." Draco shrugged. Professor Snape jiggled his wrist back and fourth, and Draco grimaced and bit his tongue in an effort not to scream.

"Ow!" He snapped.

"Well you started it Malfoy." Professor Snape shrugged.

**Back at Riddle Manor**

"Hi, I'm Juliunna, I'll be seeing the Dark Lord today." Juliunna said, balancing baby Severus in her arms. He reached up to stroke her hair and pull at it.

"Miss Riddle we're not expecting you back for a week!" Peter Pettigrew said, but ultimately stood aside so she could come inside. She walked through the fine marble floor, her golden heels tapping against the floor.

"Yes, but I'm afraid that something has come up. Could you squeeze me in by any chance?" Juliunna asked, wincing when Severus Jr. pulled to hard. She lightly smacked his hand away. "Sweetie stop it."

"Of course Miss Riddle. I'll tell the Dark Lord right now. Please, take a seat." Peter jestured to the family room off to the right side of the hallway, and Juliunna sighed

"Don't you hate how mommy has to make an appointment every time she sees her big brother?" Juliunna cooed at little Severus, and he smiled at her, unaware of whatever she was saying. She giggled.

"Your so adorable." She giggled, and held him tight to her chest as the two of them walked down the hallway Pettigrew had walked down. She imagined Tom at an important looking desk, holding files up to his face as he thought difficult thoughts with ease. Little Severus reached up and propped his chin on Juliunna's shoulder, letting his eyes slide around to see the wall. It was filled with magnificient moving portraits and many jewels and books. Little Severus's eyes flitted across the wall quickly, and couldn't help but giggle. He shook his black hair back out of his eyes, and Juliunna turned the corner, where she stopped outside of the Dark Lord's office. The two of them could hear noises inside the room. The sound of two people talking. She lifted Severus up and then held him against the door. "You want to get this one sweetie?" Juliunna smiled, and Severus laughed excitedly. He reached out his fist and started banging on the heavy door as loud as he could. Just in case Uncle Tom couldn't hear his tiny, soft fists on the door, he started kicking at it. Juliunna pulled him back with a chuckle.

"Not that hard sweetie. I think he heard you." She laughed, brushing a long lock of hair out of her face. Little Severus smiled at himself proudly as the door opened, and Peter shuffled out. "He'll see you now Miss Snape." He said, edging a quick look at the tiny baby in Juliunna's hands, he walked down the hallway. She had the biggest smile on her face as she walked in, her feet brushing softly against the shad carpeting in Tom's office. She shut the door quietly, and then turned to him excitedly.

"Hello Tom." She smiled, and placed little Severus on the floor, where he looked up at Uncle Tom with wide, excited eyes. "Grandpa!" He said suddenly, opening his arms. Tom groaned. "I hate it when he calls me grandpa."

"Well you may be his uncle, but your old enough to be his grandpa. Heh, maybe we should call you Uncle Grandpa." She smiled, and Tom scratched his grey, bald head with a curious frown.

"Why do I feel as if you just made an ironic reference?"

"Who knows… Tom don't make him cry." Juliunna said, looking down at little Severus on the floor. He was sitting cross legged, his palms open as he held then upwards towards Tom, waiting to be held. His lips were bubbling sadly.

"Oh fine." Tom groaned, and then swept across the floor. He gripped Severus tightly by his sides, and Severus cheered when he lifted him off the floor and into Tom's arms.

"Any signs of magic yet?" Tom asked, tickling little Severus's collar bone. Severus twitched in Voldemort's arms, giggling and writhing.

"Yes. Regular stuff really. Toys floating around when we leave him alone too much, his bath water evaporating into steam before I can get him in it. He made the vines in the garden come alive and attack me when I didn't let him go swimming without his swimmies."

"In the kiddie pool? The one that's like, six inches deep?" He asked, appalled. Severus reached up to look Voldemort in the eye.

"Yes, but he had just drank a bottle two minutes prior, and I didn't want to take chances." She said, sitting down at the chair beside Tom's desk.

"Oh little Juliunna, ever the protective. Tell me, how's Severus doing?" Voldemort asked, his lips curling a little at the thought. Little Severus leaned forward and smiled at him.

"He's doing fine. Which is why I wanted to ask you a very important favor." Juliunna groaned, standing up. The Dark Lord started bouncing little Severus in his arms, and felt very curious.

"What do you need sister?" He asked, and Juliunna smiled. "Well Tom, I was wondering if you would be so kind t take care of Severus jr. for three days. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday-! Oh don't shake your head at me!" Juliunna cried out as Tom started chucking.

"Why should I watch him?"

"Because you're my brother. And he is your nephew. We are family, and you love him and me. My husband, I know you don't like him that much, but I love him. I wanted to go to Paris with Severus for three days. I wanted to take a vacation." Juliuna begged, and Voldemort sighed.

"You know what?! Fine then."

"Thank you Tom!" She giggled, taking tiny Severus from Voldemorts arms and then turned away. "Wait a minute. Are you going to sit here and tell me that you came all this way just to ask me to be my nephews baby sitter?" Voldemort glared at her, and Juliunna gave him a wiggly five finger wave. "Yes. Sort of. Goodbye my Darkest Lord." She cooed, and Voldemort glared at her as she walked away.

"Sometimes my sister is such a twat."


	8. Chapter 8

**My female Mauraders are at it again. I've got this idea in my head and I can't help but think about this every time I listen to music. It's very touching. So, if you want to see my female Mauraders in a different fanfiction. Ginger, Bella, Jules, and Taylor, you should check out these stories.**

**Bella's Cousin Malfoy**

**The Way New Moon Should Have Went**

**Harry's Deadly Hallows**

Chapter 8:

**Normal Pov**

The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table at breakfast.

Double Charms was succeeded by double Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of OWLs.

"What you must remember," said little Professor Flitwick squeakily, perched as ever on a pile of books so that he could see over the top of his desk, "Is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"

They then spent over an hour revising Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Flitwick were bound to come up in their OWL, and he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest ever amount of Charms homework.

It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration.

"You cannot pass an OWL," said Professor McGonagall grimly, "without serious application, practice and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an OWL in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work." Neville made a sad little disbelieving noise. "Yes, you too, Longbottom," said Professor McGonagall. "There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So . . . today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until NEWT level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL."

She was quite right; Harry found the Vanishing Spells horribly difficult. By the end of a double period, neither he nor Ron had managed to vanish the snails on which they were practicing, though Ron said hopefully he thought his looked a bit paler. Hermione, on the other hand, successfully vanished her snail on the third attempt, earning her a ten-point bonus for Gryffindor from Professor McGonagall. Bella, Ginger, and Taylor got it right the first time. Harry highly suspected that as death eaters they needed to vanish a lot of things. Even though Hermione got it right on the third try, Ginger, Bella, and Taylor were the only people not given homework. Professor McGonagall was impressed by their skills, much to Harry's anger. Everybody else was told to practice the spell overnight, ready for a fresh attempt on their snails the following afternoon.

Now panicking slightly about the amount of homework they had to do, Harry and Ron spent their lunch hour in the library looking up the uses of moonstones in potion-making. Still angry about Ron's slur last night about the woolly hats she had made for the elves, Hermione did not join them. By the time they reached Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon, Harry's head was aching again. He had not seen the girls since Transfiguration, but he did oddly enough see Zack at one point, standing outside the girls bathroom and dancing, doing a little squat/bouncing up and down without leaving the ground dance.

The day had become cool and breezy, and as they walked down the sloping lawn towards Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they felt the occasional drop of rain on their faces. Professor Grubbly-Plank stood waiting for the class some ten yards from Hagrid's front door, a long trestle table in front of her laden with twigs. As Harry and Ron reached her, a loud shout of laughter sounded behind them; turning, they saw Draco Malfoy striding towards them, surrounded by his usual gang of Slytherin cronies. He had clearly just said something highly amusing, because Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and the rest continued to snigger heartily as they gathered around the trestle table and, judging by the way they all kept looking over at Harry, he was able to guess the subject of the joke without too much difficulty.

"Everyone here?" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, once all the Slytherins and Gryffindors had arrived. "Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called-!"

"Wait a second Professor. Bella's not here yet." Ginger called out, a smirk on her face. Everyone turned to look at the castle, not seeing her at all.

"Where is she?" Professor Grubbly-Plank said sternly, and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Probably getting drunk and pretending she's Queen of the School-!"

"Okay. Okay. Remember that comment in the near future Granger! Remember it because I know I will." They heard, and everyone looked up. Ginger and Taylor were laughing, and on the floor, Zack pointed to the sky excitedly. "Bella!" He shouted excitedly. Bella zoomed above their heads on her broomstick, but instead of sitting she was standing on the tips of her shoes. Her broom waved side to side underneath her, but apart from her feet her she was totally free in the air, swaying side to side. She circled the class with her arms out at her sides.

"Miss Black, kindly get down here, now!" Professor Grubbly-Plank snapped at her, and Bella smirked. "No problem!" Bella shouted, and to everyone's shock and horror, minus Taylor and Ginger, Bella jumped through the air, away from her broom and started falling through the air. She screamed with adrenaline.

"Ahhh!" Hermione said, getting out her wand, but Ginger just held her arms out wide. Bella fell into her arms roughly.

"That was awesome!" She said, and all the Slytherins cheered. With an eye roll, the Professor turned back to the class.

She indicated the heap of twigs in front of her. "As I was saying before. Does anyone know what these are?" Hermione's hand shot into the air. Behind her back, Malfoy did a buck-toothed imitation of her jumping up and down in eagerness to answer a question. Pansy Parkinson gave a shriek of laughter that turned almost at once into a scream, as the twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixie-ish creatures made of wood, each with knobby brown arms and legs, two twig like fingers at the end of each hand and a funny flat, bark like face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.

"Oooooooooh!" said Parvati and Lavender, thoroughly irritating Harry. Anyone would have thought Hagrid had never shown them impressive creatures; admittedly, the Flobberworms had been a bit dull, but the Salamanders and Hippogriffs had been interesting enough, and the Blast-Ended Skrewts perhaps too much so. "Yeah, oh we never get to see anything good in this class-!"

"You've never been here!" Harry hissed angrily, interrupting Bella. She smirked to herself, satisfied.

"Kindly keep your voices down, girls!" Said Professor Grubbly-Plank sharply, scattering a handful of what looked like brown rice among the stick-creatures, who immediately fell upon the food "So - anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?"

"Bowtruckles," said Hermione. "They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

"Five points for Gryffindor," said Professor Grubbly-Plank. "Yes, these are Bowtruckles, and as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Woodlice," said Hermione promptly, which explained why what Harry had taken to be grains of brown rice were moving. "But fairy eggs if they can get them."

"Good girl, take another five points. So, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a Bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of woodlice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will try to gouge at human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few woodlice and a Bowtruckle - I have enough here for one between three - you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body-parts labeled by the end of the lesson."

The class surged forwards around the trestle table. Harry deliberately circled around the back so that he ended up right next to Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"Where's Hagrid?" He asked her, while everyone else was choosing Bowtruckles.

"Never you mind," said Professor Grubbly-Plank repressively, which had been her attitude last time Hagrid had failed to turn up for a class, too. Smirking all over his pointed face, Draco Malfoy leaned across Harry and seized the largest Bowtruckle.

"Maybe," said Malfoy in an undertone, so that only Harry could hear him, "The stupid great oaf's got himself badly injured." Draco said with a smirk. Zack ran forward on his short, stubby legs. Zack crashed into Draco's shoe, which had gold shoelaces, glinting in the sunlight. Zack reached down to poke at it, amazed at the shiny.

"Maybe you'll get injured if you don't shut up," said Harry said to Draco, out of the side of his mouth.

"Maybe he's been messing with stuff that's too big for him, if you get my drift."

Malfoy said, and then picked Zack up with the hand that wasn't holding the Bowtruckle, and then walked away, smirking over his shoulder at Harry, who felt suddenly sick. Did Malfoy know something? His father was a Death Eater after all; what if he had information about Hagrid's fate that had not yet reached the ears of the Order? He hurried back around the table to Ron and Hermione who were squatting on the grass some distance away and attempting to persuade a Bowtruckle to remain still long enough for them to draw it. Harry pulled out parchment and quill, crouched down beside the others and related in a whisper what Malfoy had just said.

"Dumbledore would know if something had happened to Hagrid," said Hermione at once. "It's just playing into Malfoy's hands to look worried; it tells him we don't know exactly what's going on. We've got to ignore him, Harry. Here, hold the Bowtruckle for a moment, just so I can draw its face . . ."  
>"Ha!" Bella snapped their way, and Hermione couldn't help but look up at her. "Why is it, that you are so confident in Dumbledore? <em>Dumbledore would know<em>, I think its bull if you ask me."  
>"But nobody's asked you, so mind your business and shut your fat mouth about Dumbledore!" Hermione snapped at her, and Bella's lips pulled back in a sneer.<p>

"Yes," came Malfoy's clear drawl from the group nearest them, "Father was talking to the Minister just a couple of days ago, you know, and it sounds as though the Ministry's really determined to crack down on sub-standard teaching in this place. So even if that overgrown moron does show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straightaway."

"**OUCH!"**

Harry had gripped the Bowtruckle so hard that it had almost snapped, and it had just taken a great retaliatory swipe at his hand with its sharp fingers, leaving two long deep cuts there. Harry dropped it. Crabbe and Goyle, who had already been guffawing at the idea of Hagrid being sacked, laughed still harder as the Bowtruckle set off at full tilt towards the Forest, a little moving stick-man soon swallowed up among the tree roots. When the bell echoed distantly over the grounds, Harry rolled up his blood-stained Bowtruckle picture and marched off to Herbology with his hand wrapped in Hermione's handkerchief, and Malfoy's derisive laughter still ringing in his ears.

'If he calls Hagrid a moron one more time . . ." said Harry through gritted teeth. Ginger pushed passed him, making him stumble a few steps. "And your going to do what Potter_? Hagrid's a moron, Hagrid's a moron_." Ginger sang, skipping ahead towards Taylor. Taylor was running forward, trying to catch Zack who was now on Bella's broom, squealing as he wrapped his arms and legs tight around the broom.

"Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy, don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you . . ." Hermione started.

"Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?" said Harry sarcastically. Ron laughed, but Hermione frowned. Together, they traipsed across the vegetable patch. The sky still appeared unable to make up its mind whether it wanted to rain or not.

"I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, that's all," Said Harry in a low voice, as they reached the greenhouses. "And don't say that Grubbly-Plank woman's a better teacher!" he added threateningly.

'I wasn't going to,' said Hermione calmly.

"But she is a better teacher." Taylor shouted over her shoulder, and they trio looked up just in time to see Ginger make a fifty feet, inhuman jump, landing perfectly safe on the back of the broom. She held Zack in place and leaned forward towards the broom, making it descend towards the ground.

"How's that possible? I want to jump like that." Ron said, and Hermione sighed.

"Well first you have to become a werewolf-!"

"Then you have to perfect your powers!" Ginger shouted back once she was on the ground. "Get used to them. Love them. Then you have to practice, get used to being the strongest werewolf and human being in the world. You realize Remus couldn't do this shit, right?" Ginger laughed, and then dropped Zack into Taylor's bag. He gave an excited squeal as he dropped and slid out of sight.

"Weirdo." Hermione coughed into her hands.

"Beaver." Ginger coughed back loudly into her hands.

"Freak!" Hermione snapped at her.

"Bitch." Ginger called back, and the crowd gasped. Taylor looked at Ginger with wide eyes and then spoke in a loud, mocking voice.

"Ginger, we're too young for grown up naughty words." She gasped in mockery.

"Okay, so what were we talking about again?" Harry asked with gritted teeth, and then remembered quickly.

"Because she'll never be as good as Hagrid," Harry continued firmly, fully aware that he had just experienced an exemplary Care of Magical Creatures lesson and was thoroughly annoyed about it.

The door of the nearest greenhouse opened and some fourth-years spilled out of it, including Ginny.

"Hi," she said brightly as she passed. A few seconds later, Luna Lovegood emerged, trailing behind the rest of the class, a smudge of earth on her nose, and her hair tied in a knot on the top of her head. When she saw Harry, her prominent eyes seemed to bulge excitedly and she made a beeline straight for him. Many of his classmates turned curiously to watch. Luna took a great breath and then said, without so much as a preliminary hello, "I believe He Who Must Not Be Named is back and I believe you fought him and escaped from him."

"Err - right," said Harry awkwardly. Luna was wearing what looked like a pair of orange radishes for earrings, a fact that Parvati and Lavender seemed to have noticed, as they were both giggling and pointing at her earlobes.

"You can laugh," Luna said, her voice rising, apparently under the impression that Parvati and Lavender were laughing at what she had said rather than what she was wearing, "But people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"

"Well, they were right, weren't they?' said Hermione impatiently. "There weren't any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

"What a bitch." Ginger laughed as she, Bella, and Taylor walked by.

Luna gave Hermione a withering look and flounced away, radishes swinging madly. Parvati and Lavender were not the only ones hooting with laughter now.

"D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?" Harry asked Hermione as they made their way into class.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her," said Hermione. "Ginny's told me all about her; apparently, she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler."

Harry thought of the sinister winged horses he had seen on the night he had arrived and how Luna had said she could see them too. His spirits sank slightly. Had she been lying? But before he could devote much more thought to the matter, Ernie Macmillan had stepped up to him.

"I want you to know, Potter," He said in a loud, carrying voice, "That it's not only weirdo's who support you. I personally believe you one hundred per cent. My family have always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I."

"Err - thanks very much, Ernie," Said Harry, taken aback but pleased. Ernie might be pompous on occasions like this, but Harry was in a mood to deeply appreciate a vote of confidence from somebody who did not have radishes dangling from their ears. Ernie's words had certainly wiped the smile from Lavender Brown's face and as he turned to talk to Ron and Hermione, Harry caught Seamus's expression, which looked both confused and defiant.

To nobody's surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of OWLs. Harry wished all the teachers would stop doing this; he was starting to get an anxious, twisted feeling in his stomach every time he remembered how much homework he had to do, a feeling that worsened dramatically when Professor Sprout gave them yet another essay at the end of class. Tired and smelling strongly of dragon dung, Professor Sprouts preferred type of fertilizer, the Gryffindors trooped back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of them talking very much; it had been another long day.

As Harry was starving, and he had his first detention with Umbridge at five o'clock, he headed straight for dinner without dropping off his bag in Gryffindor Tower so that he could bolt something down before facing whatever she had in store for him. He had barely reached the entrance of the Great Hall, however, when a loud and angry voice yelled, "Hey, Potter!"

'What now?' he muttered wearily, turning to face Angelina Johnson, who looked as though she was in a towering temper.

"I'll tell you what now," she said, marching straight up to him and poking him hard in the chest with her finger. "How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"

"What?" said Harry. "Why . . . oh yeah, Keeper tryouts!"

"Now he remembers!" Snarled Angelina. "Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch specially? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!"

"'I didn't decide not to be there!" said Harry, stung by the injustice of these words. "I got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about You-Know-Who."

"Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off then Friday," said Angelina fiercely, "And I don't care how you do it. Tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure you're there!"

She turned on her heel and stormed away.

"You know what?" Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because Angelina seems to be channeling his spirit."

"What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?" said Ron skeptically, as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Less than zero,' said Harry glumly, tipping lamb chops on to his plate and starting to eat. "Better try, though, hadn't I? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something, I don't know . . ." He swallowed a mouthful of potato and added, "I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening. You realize we've got to write three essays, practice Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a counter-charm for Flitwick, finish the Bowtruckle drawing and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?"

Ron moaned and for some reason glanced up at the ceiling.

"And it looks like it's going to rain."

"What's that got to do with our homework?" said Hermione, her eyebrows raised.

"Nothing," said Ron at once, his ears reddening.

At five to five Harry bade the other two goodbye and set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door she called, "Come in," in a sugary voice. He entered cautiously, looking around.

He had known this office under three of its previous occupants.

In the days when Gilderoy Lockhart had lived here it had been plastered in beaming portraits of himself. When Lupin had occupied it, it was likely you would meet some fascinating Dark creature in a cage or tank if you came to call. In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments and artifacts for the detection of wrongdoing and concealment.

Now, however, it looked totally unrecognizable. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large Technicolor kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. These were so foul that Harry stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter."

Harry started and looked around. He had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her.

"Evening, Professor Umbridge," Harry said stiffly.

"Well, sit down," She said, pointing towards a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for him.

"Err," Said Harry, without moving. "Professor Umbridge. Err - before we start, I - I wanted to ask you a . . . a favor."

Her bulging eyes narrowed.

"Oh, yes?"

"Well, I'm . . . I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was - was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it - do it another night . . . instead . . ."

He knew long before he reached the end of his sentence that it was no good.

"Oh, no," Said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she looked as though she had just swallowed a particularly juicy fly. "Oh, no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you."

Harry felt the blood surge to his head and heard a thumping noise in his ears. So he told 'evil, nasty, attention-seeking stones', did he?

She was watching him with her head slightly to one side, still smiling widely, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking and was waiting to see whether he would start shouting again. With a massive effort, Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair and sat down.

"There," Said Umbridge sweetly, "We're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we? Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr. Potter. No, not with your quill," She added, as Harry bent down to open his bag. "You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are."

She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point.

"I want you to write, I must not tell lies," She told him softly.

"How many times?" Harry asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in,' said Umbridge sweetly. "Off you go."

She moved over to her desk, sat down and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill, then realized what was missing.

"You haven't given me any ink," He said.

"Oh, you won't need ink," Said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.

Harry placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: I must not tell lies.

He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry's right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.

Harry looked round at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toad like mouth stretched in a smile.

"Yes?"

"Nothing," said Harry quietly.

He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill on it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second time; once again, the words had been cut into his skin; once again, they healed over seconds later.

And on it went. Again and again Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what he soon came to realize was not ink, but his own blood. And, again and again, the words were cut into the back of his hand, healed, and reappeared the next time he set quill to parchment.

Darkness fell outside Umbridge's window. Harry did not ask when he would be allowed to stop. He did not even check his watch. He knew she was watching him for signs of weakness and he was not going to show any, not even if he had to sit there all night, cutting open his own hand with this quill . . .

"Come here," She said, after what seemed hours.

He stood up. His hand was stinging painfully. When he looked down at it he saw that the cut had healed, but that the skin there was red raw.

"Hand," She said.

He extended it. She took it in her own. Harry repressed a shudder as she touched him with her thick, stubby fingers on which she wore a number of ugly old rings.

"Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet," She said, smiling. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go."

Harry left her office without a word. The school was quite deserted; it was surely past midnight. He walked slowly up the corridor, then, when he had turned the corner and was sure she would not hear him, broke into a run.

He had not had time to practice Vanishing Spells, had not written a single dream in his dream diary and had not finished the drawing of the Bowtruckle, nor had he written his essays. He skipped breakfast next morning to scribble down a couple of made-up dreams for Divination, their first lesson, and was surprised to find a disheveled Ron keeping him company.

"How come you didn't do it last night?" Harry asked, as Ron stared wildly around the common room for inspiration. Ron, who had been fast asleep when Harry got back to the dormitory, muttered something about 'doing other stuff', bent low over his parchment and scrawled a few words.

"That'll have to do," He said, slamming the diary shut. "I've said I dreamed I was buying a new pair of shoes, she can't make anything weird out of that, can she?"

They hurried off to North Tower together.

"How was detention with Umbridge, anyway? What did she make you do?"

Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, then said, "Lines."

That's not too bad, then, eh?" said Ron.

"Nope," said Harry.

"Hey - I forgot - did she let you off for Friday?"

"No," said Harry.

Ron groaned sympathetically.


	9. Chapter 9

**My female Mauraders are at it again. I've got this idea in my head and I can't help but think about this every time I listen to music. It's very touching. So, if you want to see my female Mauraders in a different fanfiction. Ginger, Bella, Jules, and Taylor, you should check out these stories.**

**Bella's Cousin Malfoy**

**The Way New Moon Should Have Went**

**Harry's Deadly Hallows**

Chapter 9:  
><strong>Normal Pov<strong>

It was another bad day for Harry; he was one of the worst in Transfiguration, not having practiced Vanishing Spells at all. He had to give up his lunch hour to complete the picture of the Bowtruckle and, meanwhile, Professors McGonagall, Grubbly-Plank and Sinistra gave them yet more homework, which he had no prospect of finishing that evening because of his second detention with Umbridge. To cap it all, Angelina Johnson tracked him down at dinner again and, on learning that he would not be able to attend Friday's Keeper tryouts, told him she was not at all impressed by his attitude and that she expected players who wished to remain on the team to put training before their other commitments.

"I'm in detention!" Harry yelled after her as she stalked away. "D'you think I'd rather be stuck in a room with that old toad or playing Quidditch?" He had shouted, exciting three loud giggles from the Slytherin table. When he had turned towards the sound, he saw Bella, Taylor, and Ginger, all three of them laughing excitedly. His eyes drifted off to the side, and he saw Pansy lifting Zack into the air, cooing at him as he laughed. Draco slung an arm around Pansy's shoulder, smiling slightly at the sight. Harry rolled his eyes and continued on towards the Gryffindor table.

"At least it's only lines," Said Hermione consolingly, as Harry sank back on to his bench and looked down at his steak and kidney pie, which he no longer fancied very much. "It's not as it it's a dreadful punishment, really . . ."

Harry opened his mouth, closed it again and nodded. He was not really sure why he was not telling Ron and Hermione exactly what was happening in Umbridge's room: he only knew that he did not want to see their looks of horror; that would make the whole thing seem worse and therefore more difficult to face. He also felt dimly that this was between himself and Umbridge, a private battle of wills, and he was not going to give her the satisfaction of hearing that he had complained about it.

"I can't believe how much homework we've got," Said Ron miserably.

"Well, why didn't you do any last night?" Hermione asked him. "Where were you, anyway?"

"I was . . . I fancied a walk," said Ron shiftily.

Harry had the distinct impression that he was not alone in concealing things at the moment.

The second detention was just as bad as the previous one. The skin on the back of Harry's hand became irritated more quickly now and was soon red and inflamed. Harry thought it unlikely that it would keep healing as effectively for long. Soon the cut would remain etched into his hand and Umbridge would, perhaps, be satisfied. He let no gasp of pain escape him, however, and from the moment of entering the room to the moment of his dismissal, again past midnight, he said nothing but 'good evening' and 'goodnight'.

His homework situation, however, was now desperate, and when he returned to the Gryffindor common room he did not, though exhausted, go to bed, but opened his books and began Snape's moonstone essay. It was half past two by the time he had finished it. He knew he had done a poor job, but there was no help for it; unless he had something to give in he would be in detention with Snape next. He then dashed off answers to the questions Professor McGonagall had set them, cobbled together something on the proper handling of Bowtruckles for Professor Grubbly-Plank, and staggered up to bed, where he fell fully clothed on top of the covers and fell asleep immediately.

Thursday passed in a haze of tiredness. Ron seemed very sleepy too, though Harry could not see why he should be. Harry's third detention passed in the same way as the previous two, except that after two hours the words 'I must not tell lies' did not fade from the back of Harry's hand, but remained scratched there, oozing droplets of blood. The pause in the pointed quills scratching made Professor Umbridge look up.

"Ah," she said softly, moving around her desk to examine his hand herself. "Good. That ought to serve as a reminder to you, oughtn't it? You may leave for tonight."

"Do I still have to come back tomorrow?" said Harry, picking up his schoolbag with his left hand rather than his smarting right one.

"Oh yes,'" Said Professor Umbridge, smiling as widely as before. "Yes, I think we can etch the message a little deeper with another evenings work."

Harry had never before considered the possibility that there might be another teacher in the world he hated more than Snape, but as he walked back towards Gryffindor Tower he had to admit he had found a strong contender. She's evil, he thought, as he climbed a staircase to the seventh floor, she's an evil, twisted, mad old-

"Ron?"

He had reached the top of the stairs, turned right and almost walked into Ron, who was lurking behind a statue of Lachlan the Lanky, clutching his broomstick. He gave a great leap of surprise when he saw Harry and attempted to hide his new Cleansweep Eleven behind his back.

"What are you doing?"

"Err - nothing. What are you doing?"

Harry frowned at him.

"Come on, you can tell me! What are you hiding here for?"

"I'm - I'm hiding from Fred and George, if you must know," Said Ron. "They just went past with a bunch of first-years, I bet they're testing stuff on them again, I mean, they can't do it in the common room now, can they, not with Hermione there."

He was talking in a very fast, feverish way.

"But what have you got your broom for, you haven't been flying, have you?" Harry asked.

"I - well - well, OK, I'll tell you, but don't laugh, all right?' Ron said defensively, turning redder with every second. "I - I thought I'd try out for Gryffindor Keeper now I've got a decent broom. There. Go on. Laugh."

'I'm not laughing," said Harry. Ron blinked. "It's a brilliant idea! It'd be really cool if you got on the team! I've never seen you play Keeper, are you good?"

"I'm not bad," said Ron, who looked immensely relieved at Harry's reaction. "Charlie, Fred and George always made me keep for them when they were training during the holidays."

"So you've been practicing tonight?"

"Every evening since Tuesday . . . just on my own, though. I've been trying to bewitch Quaffles to fly at me, but it hasn't been easy and I don't know how much use it'll be." Ron looked nervous and anxious. "Fred and George are going to laugh themselves stupid when I turn up for the tryouts. They haven't stopped taking the mickey out of me since I got made a prefect."

"I wish I was going to be there," said Harry bitterly, as they set off together towards the common room.

"Yeah, so do - Harry, what's that on the back of your hand?"

Harry, who had just scratched his nose with his free right hand, tried to hide it, but had as much success as Ron with his Cleansweep.

"It's just a cut -! it's nothing -! It's -!"

But Ron had grabbed Harry's forearm and pulled the back of Harry's hand up level with his eyes. There was a pause, during which he stared at the words carved into the skin, then, looking sick, he released Harry

"I thought you said she was just giving you lines?"

Harry hesitated, but after all, Ron had been honest with him, so he told Ron the truth about the hours he had been spending in Umbridge's office.

"The old hag!" Ron said in a revolted whisper as they came to a halt in front of the Fat Lady, who was dozing peacefully with her head against her frame. "She's sick! Go to McGonagall, say something!"

"No," said Harry at once. "I'm not giving her the satisfaction of knowing she's got to me."

"Got to you? You can't let her get away with this!"

"I don't know how much power McGonagall's got over her," Said Harry.

"Dumbledore, then, tell Dumbledore!"

"No."' said Harry flatly.

"Why not?"

"He's got enough on his mind," said Harry, but that was not the true reason. He was not going to go to Dumbledore for help when Dumbledore had not spoken to him once since June.

"Well, I reckon you should -!" Ron began, but he was interrupted by the Fat Lady, who had been watching them sleepily and now burst out, "Are you going to give me the password or will I have to stay awake all night waiting for you to finish your conversation?"

Friday dawned sullen and sodden as the rest of the week. Though Harry automatically glanced towards the staff table when he entered the Great Hall, it was without any real hope of seeing Hagrid, and he turned his mind immediately to his more pressing problems, such as the mountainous pile of homework he had to do and the prospect of yet another detention with Umbridge.

Two things sustained Harry that day. One was the thought that it was almost the weekend; the other was that, dreadful though his final detention with Umbridge was sure to be, he had a distant view of the Quidditch pitch from her window and might, with luck, be able to see something of Ron's tryout. These were rather feeble rays of light, it was true, but Harry was grateful for anything that might lighten his present darkness; he had never had a worse first week of term at Hogwarts.

At five o'clock that evening he knocked on Professor Umbridge's office door for what he sincerely hoped would be the final time, and was told to enter. The blank parchment lay ready for him on the lace-covered table, the pointed black quill beside it.

"You know what to do, Mr. Potter," said Umbridge, smiling sweetly at him.

Harry picked up the quill and glanced through the window. If he just shifted his chair an inch or so to the right . . . on the pretext of shifting himself closer to the table, he managed it. He now had a distant view of the Gryffindor Quidditch team soaring up and down the pitch, while half a dozen black figures stood at the foot of the three high goalposts, apparently awaiting their turn to Keep. It was impossible to tell which one was Ron at this distance. There was a knock at the door, and Harry looked up, curiously.

"Oh come in dear." Umbridge called, and to Harry's shock and outrage, Bella opened the door and walked in. He hissed inaudibly as she strode over to Umbridge and shook her hand.

"Thank you for coming on such sort notice dear." Umbridge said, and as she looked over to Harry, he ducked his head quickly and pretended to write with the quill.

"If that one gives you any trouble-!"  
>"Don't worry Professor, I'll write it down on a note for you to see later." Bella said with a wide smile, and Harry peeked up in time to see Professor Umbridge's lips spread into a toad like smile.<p>

"Actually, I was also going to say that you are allowed to use any force you deem reasonable." Professor Umbridge said with a sly wink. Harry bit his lip nervously and looked down at the paper.

"Thank you Professor. Enjoy that date with the Minister." Bella said with a kind smile, and Harry scowled darkly at the floor at the sound of her sugary sweet voice.

"Oh I will. Potter, If Bella tells me that you've been causing any trouble at all, its more detentions. Got it?" Umbridge said, smiled with a fake smile. Harry looked up into her eyes and nodded. "Of course Professor." He said, and five minutes later, Professor Umbridge was out the door. The second it was shut behind her, Bella lifted her black Hogwarts robes off of her body and threw them towards a corner of the room. Harry blanched. She was wearing the tightest black t shirt he had ever seen, and tight jean short shorts that while a side of him wanted to stare, another side wanted to look away. She walked over to Professor Umbridge's desk, and plopped herself down on the wooden surface.

"Well Potter, keep a move on." Bella smirked at him, and she reached into her pocket and took out an aluminum flask.

"You do realize that drinking alcohol is bad for you right? It kills your brain cells." Harry said in a drawl, and then looked out the window. Bella took a long swig from the flask, throwing her long curly hair back as she did so. When she was done, she looked straight at him and smirked.

"You know the cruciatus curse is also bad for you. Too much of it can drive you insane." She said with a smirk. He looked down at the desk with a slightly feared frown.

He sighed after a while and then put down the quill. "Bella, do you have a boyfriend?" He asked. She looked up with a hiss.

"What?!"

"Do you. By any chance in this world, or the definite hell you will be residing in when you die, have a boyfriend. I'm curious." Harry said slowly, and Bella smirked.

"Yeah."

"Wow. Wasn't expecting that you were capable of love."

"What?! Potter, you don't have to be in a relationship with someone to love them." Bella said, rolling her eyes.

"What… Really?"  
>"Duh."<br>"So… Your not in love with your boyfriend?"

"No. He's just a really good sex partner, that's all."

"What… Who?"

Sigh. "His name is Jacob." Bella said with an eye roll.

"Jacob who? Does he go here?"  
>"No, he's a muggle-!"<p>

"Hypocrite! You act like you hate muggles-!"

"I do hate muggles. But Jacob isn't a complete muggle. He's also a shape shifting werewolf." Bella said slowly, glaring at him.

"Oh… So do you love him?"  
>"No. But you don't need to love someone to have a good time with someone." Bella said with an eye roll. "So Harry,"<p>

"Yeah?"  
>"Are you banging my dad-!"<br>Harry leaned over and spit all over the table in shock. "What?!"  
>"Are you blowing my father? Having sex with him? Letting him put his cucumber in your corn hole-!"<p>

"Why would you-! Oh my gosh!" Harry spit out in disgust.

"I'm not hearing a no." Bella sang. He spit again and shook his head.

"No! N-o no!"

"Well anyway, your not here to have fun. So write bitch!"

…

I must not tell lies, Harry wrote. The cut in the back of his right hand opened and began to bleed afresh.

I must not tell lies. The cut dug deeper, stinging and smarting.

I must not tell lies. Blood trickled down his wrist.

He chanced another glance out of the window. Whoever was defending the goalposts now was doing a very poor job indeed. Katie Bell scored twice in the few seconds Harry dared to watch. Hoping very much that the Keeper wasn't Ron, he dropped his eyes back to the parchment shining with blood.

I must not tell lies.

I must not tell lies.

He looked up whenever he thought he could risk it; when he could hear the scratching of Bella's quill on her journal that she had fished out of nowhere, or the opening of a desk drawer. The third person to try out was pretty good, the fourth was terrible, the fifth dodged a Bludger exceptionally well but then fumbled an easy save. The sky was darkening, and Harry doubted he would be able to see the sixth and seventh people at all.

I must not tell lies.

I must not tell lies.

The parchment was now dotted with drops of blood from the back of his hand, which was searing with pain. When he next looked up, night had fallen and the Quidditch pitch was no longer visible.

"Lets see if you've got the message yet, shall we?" Said Bella's drunken voice half an hour later.

She moved towards him, stretching out her long, slender fingers for his arm. And then, as she took hold of him to examine the words now cut into his skin, pain seared, not across the back of his hand, but across the scar on his forehead. At the same time, he had a most peculiar sensation somewhere around his midriff.

He wrenched his arm out of her grip and leapt to his feet, staring at her. She looked back at him, a smirk stretching across her wide, slack mouth.

"Yes, it hurts, doesn't it?" She smirked at him, her eyes soft and heated.

He did not answer. His heart was thumping very hard and fast. Was she talking about his hand or did she know what he had just felt in his forehead?

"Well, I think I've made _my_ point, Harry Potter. You may go."

He caught up his schoolbag and left the room as quickly as he could.

Stay calm, he told himself, as he sprinted up the stairs. Stay calm, it doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means . . .

"Mimbulus mimbletonia!" he gasped at the Fat Lady, who swung forwards once more.

A roar of sound greeted him. Ron came running towards him, beaming all over his face and slopping Butterbeer down his front from the goblet he was clutching.

"Harry, I did it, I'm in, I'm Keeper!"

"What? Oh – brilliant!" Said Harry, trying to smile naturally, while his heart continued to race and his hand throbbed and bled.

"Have a Butterbeer." Ron pressed a bottle on him. "I can't believe it - !- where's Hermione gone?'

"She's there," said Fred, who was also swigging Butterbeer, and pointed to an armchair by the fire. Hermione was dozing in it, her drink tipping precariously in her hand.

"Well, she said she was pleased when I told her," said Ron, looking slightly put out.

"Let her sleep," Said George hastily. It was a few moments before Harry noticed that several of the first-years gathered around them bore unmistakable signs of recent nosebleeds.

Come here, Ron, and see if Oliver's old robes fit you,' called Katie Bell, "We can take off his name and put yours on instead . . ."

As Ron moved away, Angelina came striding up to Harry.

"Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier, Potter," She said abruptly. "It's stressful this managing lark, you know, I'm starting to think I was a bit hard on Wood sometimes." She was watching Ron over the rim of her goblet with a slight frown on her face.

"Look, I know he's your best mate, but he's not fabulous," she said bluntly. "'I think with a bit of training he'll be all right, though. He comes from a family of good Quidditch players. I'm banking on him turning out to have a bit more talent than he showed today, to be honest. Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper both flew better this evening, but Hooper's a real whiner, he's always moaning about something or other, and Vicky's involved in all sorts of societies. She admitted herself that if training clashed with her Charms Club she'd put Charms first. Anyway, we're having a practice session at two o'clock tomorrow, so just make sure you're there this time. And do me a favor and help Ron as much as you can, OK?"

He nodded, and Angelina strolled back to Alicia Spinnet. Harry moved over to sit next to Hermione, who awoke with a jerk as he put down his bag.

"Oh, Harry, it's you . . . good about Ron, isn't it?" She said blearily. "I'm just so - so - so tired,' "she yawned. "I was up until one o'clock making more hats. They're disappearing like mad!"

And sure enough, now that he looked, Harry saw that there were woolly hats concealed all around the room where unwary elves might accidentally pick them up.

"Great," said Harry distractedly; if he did not tell somebody soon, he would burst. "Listen, Hermione, I was just up in Umbridge's office and she touched my arm . . ."

Hermione listened closely. When Harry had finished, she said slowly, "You're worried You-Know-Who's controlling her like he controlled Quirrel?"

"Well," said Harry, dropping his voice, 'it's a possibility, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," said Hermione, though she sounded unconvinced. "But I don't think he can be possessing her the way he possessed Quirrel, I mean, he's properly alive again now, isn't he, he's got his own body, he wouldn't need to share someone else's. He could have her under the Imperius Curse, I suppose . . "

Harry watched Fred, George and Lee Jordan juggling empty Butterbeer bottles for a moment. Then Hermione said, "But last year your scar hurt when nobody was touching you, and didn't Dumbledore say it had to do with what You-Know-Who was feeling at the time? I mean, maybe this hasn't got anything to do with Umbridge at all, maybe it's just coincidence it happened while you were with her?"

"'She's evil," said Harry flatly. "Twisted."

"She's horrible, yes, but . . . Harry, I think you ought to tell Dumbledore your scar hurt."

It was the second time in two days he had been advised to go to Dumbledore and his answer to Hermione was just the same as his answer to Ron.

"I'm not bothering him with this. Like you just said, it's not a big deal. It's been hurting on and off all summer - it was just a bit worse tonight, that's all –!"

"Harry, I'm sure Dumbledore would want to be bothered by this -!"

"Yeah," said Harry, before he could stop himself, "that's the only bit of me Dumbledore cares about, isn't it, my scar?"

"Don't say that, it's not true!"

"I think I'll write and tell Sirius about it, see what he thinks."

"Harry, you can't put something like that in a letter!' said Hermione, looking alarmed. "Don't you remember, Moody told us to be careful what we put in writing! We just can't guarantee owls aren't being intercepted any more!"

"All right, all right, I won't tell him, then!' said Harry irritably. He got to his feet. "I'm going to bed. Tell Ron for me, will you?"

'"Oh no," Said Hermione, looking relieved, "If you're going that means I can go too, without being rude. I'm absolutely exhausted and I want to make some more hats tomorrow. Listen, you can help me if you like, it's quite fun, I'm getting better, I can do patterns and bobbles and all sorts of things now."

Harry looked into her face, which was shining with glee, and tried to look as though he was vaguely tempted by this offer.

"Err . . . no, I don't think I will, thanks,' he said. 'Err - not tomorrow. I've got loads of homework to do . . ."

And he traipsed off to the boys' stairs, leaving her looking slightly disappointed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter

**Normal Pov**

Harry was first to wake up in his dormitory next morning. He lay for a moment watching dust swirl in the ray of sunlight coming through the gap in his four-poster's hangings, and savored the thought that it was Saturday. The first week of term seemed to have dragged on for ever, like one gigantic History of Magic lesson.

Judging by the sleepy silence and the freshly minted look of that beam of sunlight, it was just after daybreak. He pulled open the curtains around his bed, got up and started to dress. The only sound apart from the distant twittering of birds was the slow, deep breathing of his fellow Gryffindors. He opened his schoolbag carefully, pulled out parchment and quill and headed out of the dormitory for the common room.

Making straight for his favorite squashy old armchair beside the now extinct fire, Harry settled himself down comfortably and unrolled his parchment while looking around the room. The detritus of crumpled-up bits of parchment, old Gob stones, empty ingredient jars and sweet wrappers that usually covered the common room at the end of each day was gone, as were all Hermione's elf hats. Wondering vaguely how many elves had now been set free whether they wanted to be or not, Harry uncorked his ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, then held it suspended an inch above the smooth yellowish surface of his parchment, thinking hard . . . but after a minute or so he found himself staring into the empty grate, at a complete loss for what to say.

He could now appreciate how hard it had been for Ron and Hermione to write him letters over the summer. How was he supposed to tell Sirius everything that had happened over the past week and pose all the questions he was burning to ask without giving potential letter-thieves a lot of information he did not want them to have?

He sat quite motionless for a while, gazing into the fireplace, then, finally coming to a decision, he dipped his quill into the ink bottle once more and set it resolutely on the parchment.

_Dear Snuffles,_

_Hope you're OK, the first week back here's been terrible, I'm really glad it's the weekend._

_We've got a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. She's nearly as nice as your mum. I'm writing because that thing I wrote to you about last summer happened again last night when I was doing a detention with your daughter._

_We're all missing our biggest friend, we hope he'll be back soon._

_Please write back quickly._

_Best,_

_Harry_

Harry reread the letter several times, trying to see it from the point of view of an outsider. He could not see how they would know what he was talking about - or who he was talking to - just from reading this letter. He did hope Sirius would pick up the hint about Hagrid and tell them when he might be back. Harry did not want to ask directly in case it drew too much attention to what Hagrid might be up to while he was not at Hogwarts.

Considering it was a very short letter, it had taken a long time to write; sunlight had crept halfway across the room while he had been working on it and he could now hear distant sounds of movement from the dormitories above. Sealing the parchment carefully, he climbed through the portrait hole and headed off for the Owlery.

'I would not go that way if I were you,' said Nearly Headless Nick, drifting disconcertingly through a wall just ahead of Harry as he walked down the passage. 'Peeves is planning an amusing . joke on the next person to pass the bust of Paracelsus halfway down the corridor.'

'Does it involve Paracelsus falling on top of the persons head?' asked Harry.

'Funnily enough, it does,' said Nearly Headless Nick in a bored voice. 'Subtlety has never been Peeve's strong point. I'm off to try and find the Bloody Baron . . . he might be able to put a stop to it . . . see you, Harry . . .'

'Yeah, bye,' said Harry and instead of turning right, he turned left, taking a longer but safer route up to the Owlery. His spirits rose as he walked past window after window showing brilliantly blue sky; he had training later, he would be back on the Quidditch pitch at last.

Something brushed his ankles. He looked down and saw the caretaker's skeletal grey cat, Mrs Norris, slinking past him. She turned lamp like yellow eyes on him for a moment before disappearing behind a statue of Wilfred the Wistful.

'I'm not doing anything wrong,' Harry called after her. She had the unmistakable air of a cat that was off to report to her boss, yet Harry could not see why; he was perfectly entitled to walk up to the Owlery on a Saturday morning.

The sun was high in the sky now and when Harry entered the Owlery the glassless windows dazzled his eyes; thick silvery beams of sunlight crisscrossed the circular room in which hundreds of owls nestled on rafters, a little restless in the early-morning light, some clearly just returned from hunting. The straw-covered floor crunched a little as he stepped across tiny animal bones, craning his neck for a sight of Hedwig.

There you are,' he said, spotting her somewhere near the very top of the vaulted ceiling. 'Get down here, I've got a letter for you.'

With a low hoot she stretched her great white wings and soared down on to his shoulder.

'Right, I know this says Snuffles on the outside,' he told her, giving her the letter to clasp in her beak and, without knowing exactly why, whispering, 'but it's for Sirius, OK?'

She blinked her amber eyes once and he took that to mean that she understood.

'Safe flight, then,' said Harry and he carried her to one of the windows; with a moments pressure on his arm, Hedwig took off into the blindingly bright sky. He watched her until she became a tiny black speck and vanished, then switched his gaze to Hagrid's hut, clearly visible from this window, and just as clearly uninhabited, the chimney smokeless, the curtains drawn.

The treetops of the Forbidden Forest swayed in a light breeze. Harry watched them, savoring the fresh air on his face, thinking about Quidditch later . . . then he saw it. A great, reptilian winged horse, just like the ones pulling the Hogwarts carriages, with leathery black wings spread wide like a pterodactyl's, rose up out of the trees like a grotesque, giant bird. It soared in a great circle, then plunged back into the trees. The whole thing had happened so quickly, Harry could hardly believe what he had seen, except that his heart was hammering madly.

The Owlery door opened behind him. He leapt in shock and, turning quickly, saw Cho Chang holding a letter and a parcel in his hands.

'Hi,' said Harry automatically.

'Oh . . . hi,' she said breathlessly. 'I didn't think anyone would be up here this early . . . I only remembered five minutes ago, it's my mum's birthday'

She held up the parcel.

Right,' said Harry. His brain seemed to have jammed. He wanted to say something funny and interesting, but the memory of that terrible winged horse was fresh in his mind.

Nice day,' he said, gesturing to the windows. His insides seemed to shrivel with embarrassment. The weather. He was talking about the weather . . .

'Yeah,' said Cho, looking around for a suitable owl. 'Good Quidditch conditions. I haven't been out all week, have you?'

'No,' said Harry.

Cho had selected one of the school barn owls. She coaxed it down on to her arm where it held out an obliging leg so that she could attach the parcel.

'Hey has Gryffindor got a new Keeper yet?' she asked.

'Yeah,' said Harry. 'It's my friend Ron Weasley, d'you know him?'

'The Tornados-hater?' said Cho rather coolly. 'Is he any good?'

'Yeah,' said Harry, 'I think so. I didn't see his tryout, though, I was in detention.'

Cho looked up, the parcel only half-attached to the owls legs.

That Umbridge woman's foul,' she said in a low voice. 'Putting you in detention just because you told the truth about how - how - how he died. Everyone heard about it, it was all over the school. You were really brave standing up to her like that.'

Harry's insides re-inflated so rapidly he felt as though he might actually float a few inches off the dropping-strewn floor. Who cared about a stupid flying horse; Cho thought he had been really brave. For a moment, he considered accidentally on-purpose showing her his cut hand as he helped her tie her parcel on to her owl . . . but the very instant this thrilling thought occurred, the Owlery door opened again.

Filch the caretaker came wheezing into the room. There were purple patches on his sunken, veined cheeks, his jowls were aquiver and his thin grey hair disheveled; he had obviously run here. Mrs Norris came trotting at his heels, gazing up at the owls overhead and mewing hungrily. There was a restless shifting of wings from above and a large brown owl snapped his beak in a menacing fashion.

'Aha!' said Filch, taking a flat-footed step towards Harry, his pouch cheeks trembling with anger. I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs!'

Harry folded his arms and stared at the caretaker.

'Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?'

Cho was looking from Harry to Filch, also frowning; the barn owl on her arm, tired of standing on one leg, gave an admonitory hoot but she ignored it.

'I have my sources.' said Filch in a self-satisfied hiss. 'Now hand over whatever it is you're sending.'

Feeling immensely thankful that he had not dawdled in posting off the letter, Harry said, 'I can't, it's gone.'

'Gone?' said Filch, his face contorting with rage.

'Gone,' said Harry calmly.

Filch opened his mouth furiously, mouthed for a few seconds, then raked Harry's robes with his eyes.

'How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?'

'Because - '

'I saw him send it,' said Cho angrily.

Filch rounded on her.

'You saw him - ?'

That's right, I saw him,' she said fiercely.

There was a moment's pause in which Filch glared at Cho and Cho glared right back, then the caretaker turned on his heel and shuffled back towards the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle and looked back at Harry.

'If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb . . .'

He stumped off down the stairs. Mrs Norris cast a last longing look at the owls and followed him.

Harry and Cho looked at each other. They both smiled at each other.

…

"You defeated You know who-!"

"You pass every Defense against the Dark Arts Class-!"

"You've defeated one of the strongest, right after Dumbledore of course, wizards of all time, more then once!"

"Of course you should be the one to teach us!"

"Listen, it sounds great when you say it like that, but all that stuff was luck - I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I didn't plan any of it, I just did whatever I could think of, and I nearly always had help –!"

Ron and Hermione were still smirking and Harry felt his temper rise; he wasn't even sure why he was feeling so angry.

"Don't sit there grinning like you know better than I do, I was there, wasn't I?" Harry said heatedly. "I know what went on, all right? And I didn't get through any of that because I was brilliant at Defense Against the Dark Arts, I got through it all because - because help came at the right time, or because I guessed right - but I just blundered through it all, I didn't have a clue what I was doing -! "STOP LAUGHING!"

The bowl of Murtlap essence fell to the floor and smashed. He became aware that he was on his feet, though he couldn't remember standing up. Crookshanks streaked away under a sofa. Ron and Hermione's smiles had vanished.

"You don't know what it's like! You - neither of you - you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? The whole time you're sure you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own - your own brain or guts or whatever -! "Like you can think straight when you know you're about a nanosecond from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die! They've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that - and you two sit there acting like I'm a clever little boy to be standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up - you just don't get it, that could just as easily have been me, it would have been if Voldemort hadn't needed me-!"

"We weren't saying anything like that, mate!" Said Ron, looking aghast. "We weren't having a go at Diggory, we didn't - you've got the wrong end of the -!"

He looked helplessly at Hermione, whose face was stricken.

"Harry," she said timidly, "Don't you see? This . . . this is exactly why we need you . . . we need to know what it's r-really like . . . facing him . . . facing V-Voldemort"

It was the first time she had ever said Voldemort's name and it was this, more than anything else, that calmed Harry. Still breathing hard, he sank back into his chair, becoming aware as he did so that his hand was throbbing horribly again. He wished he had not smashed the bowl of Murtlap essence

"Well . . . think about it," said Hermione quietly. "Please?"

Harry could not think of anything to say. He was feeling ashamed of his outburst already. He nodded, hardly aware of what he was agreeing to.

Hermione stood up.

"Well, I'm off to bed," she said, in a voice that was clearly as natural as she could make it. 'Erm . . . night.'

Ron had got to his feet, too.

'Coming?' he said awkwardly to Harry.

'Yeah,' said Harry. 'In . . . in a minute. I'll just clear this up.'

He indicated the smashed bowl on the floor. Ron nodded and left.

'Repairo,' Harry muttered, pointing his wand at the broken pieces of china. They flew back together, good as new, but there was no returning the Murtlap essence to the bowl.

He was suddenly so tired he was tempted to sink back into his armchair and sleep there, but instead he forced himself to his feet and followed Ron upstairs. His restless night was punctuated once more by dreams of long corridors and locked doors and he awoke next day with his scar prickling again.

In the Hog's Head

Hermione made no mention of Harry giving Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons for two whole weeks after her original suggestion. Harry's detentions with Umbridge were finally over (he doubted whether the words now etched into the back of his hand would ever fade entirely); Ron had had four more Quidditch practices and not been shouted at during the last two; and all three of them had managed to Vanish their mice in Transfiguration (Hermione had actually progressed to Vanishing kittens), before the subject was broached again, on a wild, blustery evening at the end of September, when the three of them were sitting in the library, looking up potion ingredients for Snape.

'I was wondering,' Hermione said suddenly, 'whether you'd thought any more about Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry.'

'Course I have,' said Harry grumpily, 'can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us - '

'I meant the idea Ron and I had - ' Ron cast her an alarmed, threatening kind of look. She frowned at him, '- Oh, all right, the idea I had, then - about you teaching us.'

Harry did not answer at once. He pretended to be perusing a page of Asiatic Anti-Venoms, because he did not want to say what was in his mind.

He had given the matter a great deal of thought over the past fortnight. Sometimes it seemed an insane idea, just as it had on the night Hermione had proposed it, but at others, he had found himself thinking about the spells that had served him best in his various encounters with Dark creatures and Death Eaters - found himself, in fact, subconsciously planning lessons . . .

'Well,' he said slowly, when he could no longer pretend to find Asiatic Anti-Venoms interesting, 'yeah, I - I've thought about it a bit.'

'And?' said Hermione eagerly.

'I don't know,' said Harry, playing for time. He looked up at Ron.

'I thought it was a good idea from the start,' said Ron, who seemed keener to join in this conversation now that he was sure Harry was not going to start shouting again.

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

'You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn't you?'

'Yes, Harry,' said Hermione gently, 'but all the same, there's no point pretending that you're not good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, because you are. You were the only person last year who could throw off the Imperius Curse completely, you can produce a Patronus, you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown wizards can't, Viktor always said - '

Ron looked round at her so fast he appeared to crick his neck. Rubbing it, he said, 'Yeah? What did Vicky say?'

'Ho ho,' said Hermione in a bored voice. 'He said Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn't, and he was in the final year at Durmstrange.'

Ron was looking at Hermione suspiciously.

'You're not still in contact with him, are you?'

'So what if I am.?' said Hermione coolly, though her face was a little pink. 'I can have a pen-pal if I - '

'He didn't only want to be your pen-pal,' said Ron accusingly.

Hermione shook her head exasperatedly and, ignoring Ron, who was continuing to watch her, said to Harry, 'Well, what do you think? Will you teach us?'

'Just you and Ron, yeah?'

'Well,' said Hermione, looking a mite anxious again. 'Well . . . now, don't fly off the handle again, Harry, please . . . but I really think you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. I mean, we're talking about defending ourselves against V-Voldemort. Oh, don't be pathetic, Ron. It doesn't seem fair if we don't offer the chance to other people.'

Harry considered this for a moment, then said, 'Yeah, but I doubt anyone except you two would want to be taught by me. I'm a nutter, remember?'

'Well, I think you might be surprised how many people would be interested in hearing what you've got to say,' said Hermione seriously. 'Look,' she leaned towards him - Ron, who was still watching her with a frown on his face, leaned forwards to listen too - 'you know the first weekend in October's a Hogsmeade weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who's interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over?'

'Why do we have to do it outside school?' said Ron.

'Because,' said Hermione, returning to the diagram of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage she was copying, 'I don't think Umbridge would be very happy if she found out what we were up to.'


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter

**Normal Pov**

"Well, I think that went quite well," Hermione said happily, as she, Harry and Ron walked out of the Hog's Head into the bright sunlight a few moments later. Harry and Ron were clutching their bottles of Butterbeer. They had just had their first successful sign up for the Defense Against the Dark Arts group. At least twenty five people had signed up.

"You know, I'm surprised. There wasn't the least bit of chaos in here-!"

"Sup Weasley."

The three of them spun around in shock. Bella was alone, leaning against the Hog's Head door. She was smirking at the trio.

"Um, Bella. What are you doing here-!"

"Shut it Weasel." Bella said. She got off of the door and strode forward, a smirk on her face.

"May I see that?" Bella smirked. Hermione paled. Harry gripped his cloak at the sides anxiously.

"Oh, its just a spare bit of parchment, its nothing to worry about-!"

"The paper in your hand Granger, give it up." Bella said, holding out her hand. Hermione bit her lip. This was it. Bella was going to spill it to Umbridge and have all twenty five people who had signed up on that list expelled, or possibly jailed.

"Give it or I go straight to Umbridge. Don't make me tell you again." Bella said. Immediately, Hermione placed the paper in Bella's hand. Bella pulled it up to read it.

"Bella, we can explain-!" Ron started, but frowned when Bella lifted her wand and placed it against the paper. There was a tiny burst of light, but they couldn't see what happened.

"Here you go." Bella said, handing it back to Hermione. Harry and Ron leaned closer to look at it. Bella Black was written in thick and curly gold paint.

"I'm in." She said with a shrug. The trio stared at her.

"Your… In?" Ron squeaked nervously.

"Yeah, I've got nothing better to do. Besides, it sounds fun. And I'm all in for an excuse to hurt other kids." Bella said. With a dark chuckle, she started to walk back to the Hogs Head bar.

"Wait… You want to hang out with us?" Hermione asked her.

"Think of it more as, I want to keep an eye on you three." Bella said. She then promptly laughed and opened the door to Hogshead.

"Oops. Almost forgot." She said. She looked back and pointed her wand at the paper. Another blast of light, and four more names popped up on the paper.

"Okay, I understand the three girls. But why Zack?" Hermione asked. Bella laughed.

"It's hilarious to see him act all serious.." She laughed. "You guys want something? Fire Whiskey? Poison? Vodka?"

"No thank you-!"

"Fire Whiskey please-!"

"No Ron!" Hermione snarled. She grabbed both boys by their shirts and then pulled them down the Hogsmead road. A few minutes into the walk, Harry turned to Hermione.

"Hermione, I was facing the door. She didn't walk in… How did she know what we were doing?"

"Hmm," They heard, and Ron jumped so hard he fell. "Ginger." Hermione said. Ginger slithered out behind the column near Ron, leaning over him.

"Maybe you three want to learn on your quiet voices. My hearing is great, but I heard you in Gryffindor Tower, while I was in the shower." Ginger said. She turned around and strode toward the Hog's Head bar, Bella holding the door open with a loud laugh.

"These girls. You just can't see them coming." Ron said as he stood up.

"Ain't that the truth, Weasley." Taylor smirked. She slid out from behind Harry, who shivered.

"What-! Where'd you come from?" Ron snapped. Taylor laughed and shuffled her backpack.

"I was wondering. I can trust you Potter, so could you just take Zack for a stroll? I need a break." She said, putting her backpack in Harry's hand. He smiled. "Yeah Taylor, sure." He shrugged when Hermione scoffed. Taylor blew a kiss at the backpack and they ran off towards the pub. Harry continued down the road. The bag was huge enough for Zack to sit in, but not enough for him to sit comfortably for hours on end without a single whine, moaning, and or complaining.

"Hmm… How does Zack fit comfortably in this thing?" Harry asked himself, opening the backpack. Hermione and Ron catched up to him. When he glanced inside the pack, he gasped.

"What the heck?! Its a whole room!" He said. He closed the pack as they both entered the Quill shop. "You guys want to go in?" Harry asked her.

"I'll watch the pack. You can go if you want Ron." Hermione said. Harry and Ron nodded. They put the pack on the floor and Harry flipped it open. "Wow. It's nicer then my room." Ron said. There was a large and narrow slide tunnel.

"Hermione, its like the spell on the tent we used at the Quidditch World cup clearing. I can see a whole room in here-!"

Ron pushed Harry, whom went falling into the bag and tumbling down the slide. "Ron Weasley!" Harry shouted. Ron laughed and then jumped inside. Instantly, Hermione picked the bag up and zipped it close.

"Hmm, I think I'll take this one." She said, moving over to the quills on the wall.

…

Harry fell down into a pit filled with plastic, multi colored balls. "Heh, sweet." He said, standing up. He took one step forward, but Ron came flying out and falling on top of him, tackling Harry to the floor.

"Hey!" Harry snapped at him. Ron got up with a laugh. "Whoa." He said. "This is… This is better then my own house. Definitely." Ron said. Harry and him moved forward and through the ball pit, until they climbed out easily.

There was a large TV on the wall, playing some kind of colorful show.

"I think Taylor's bag has some kind of protection spell on it. You know, so that she can use electricity inside this backpack or something." Harry said. There was a large and plush couch in the living room area.

"It's like a house. It's all marked off." Ron said. The rooms were separated, instead of walls, with bright and shiny duck tape on the floor. There was a kitchen with plenty of snacks. A crib with an easy accessible ladder where Zack could sleep. There was an Xbox plugged into the TV, which was the largest thing they had ever seen. It was at least a hundred feet long. It took up a large area of the wall.

"Zack… He's like a one year old. What's he gonna do with all this stuff-!" Ron started as the two of them rounded the couch. Zack had his eyes trained on the TV, a bowl of cheerios on his lap and spoon feeding himself. A milk bottle lay by his side.

"Whoa… Hey Zack, buddy." Ron said. He and Harry sat down on either side of the couch.

"Shush." Zack screamed at them, making Harry and Ron snicker. "What are you watching, Zack?"

"Ad… Adventure Time!" Zack snapped at them.

"Someone's grumpy." Harry said. He and Ron looked around.

…

…

…

The second the show was over, Zack jumped up, placed his cereal bowl on the desk, and turned to Ron and Harry excitedly.

"Friends?" He asked. Harry and Ron nodded. "Yeah."

"We… Go… Sweeming!" Zack giggled. He started to run around the couch and towards the only door Harry and Ron could see.

"Swimming!" Ron said with admiration. "Hey, you think if I asked Taylor she'd let me live here?" Ron asked Harry. Harry smirked.

"Yeah, you and Zack can share cribs." Harry laughed. Zack threw open the large door and Ron and Harry followed him through the door.

"Wow." Both him and Harry whispered. This room had three parts to it. A left side, a middle side, and a right side. There was the worlds largest child playing room on the left, and the beautiful in ground pool decorated with roses, with an awesome looking hot tub on the right. In the middle, there was a snack bar.

"I… I don't know what to do first." Ron exclaimed with awe.

**…**

Later on, at eight o'clock, Hermione got up from the large Gryffindor Common room Couch. There was a knock on the Gryffindor painting. She opened the portrait to find Taylor. She looked sober and dry, much to Hermione's disappointment.

"Hi, I'm here for my son."

"Yes, let me just get the guys." Hermione said, opening the bag.

"Harry! Ron! Time to go home!" Hermione screamed inside. There was a silent minute, but then they all heard the loud sound of scuffling feet on the slide. Ron poked his head up through the top. Taylor smirked.

"I see you've had the nachos." Taylor said. Ron nodded. "Um… Change of plans. Zack wants us to stay the night. We're having a sleep over." Ron said, looking to Taylor. Taylor sighed.

"Fine. But today's bath night. And while Zack's taking his bath you and Harry need to un hook the pool. I told Zack he could go in the pool tomorrow. Oh! Your all wet! Were you in the pool?" Taylor asked, crossing her arms. Ron nodded.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Zack's not allowed in the pool! He wasn't in there was he?"

"Um… Um… Yes. But he was safe."

"He can't swim!" Taylor screamed at him.

"We know. But he had swimmers on his arm and a life jacket, and even a thingy that he wore around his waist. It made him float."

"A floatie?" Taylor asked him, raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah. That's it. He was completely safe. He got them out of the closet."

"Well alright. And you boys are watching him?" Taylor said.

"Yes, of course. We had so much fun. Hermione, theirs a slide on top of the pool. And a trampoline. A kitchen that keeps putting out more food! And there are video games! Its awesome down here" Ron said with an excited smile on his face. Hermione passed the bag to Taylor, nodding.

"Yes, I'm sure its fun."

"It is. And how does Zack get to the top in order to poke his head out of the bag? Its just a slide, and even I had trouble getting up this thing." Ron said. Tyler frowned at him.

"There's a button on the wall right next to the slide. It turns it into an escalator." Taylor said with a small shrug.

"You just leave him down their every day? How is he not hurt?" Ron asked.

"You probably haven't noticed. I don't leave him by himself. There are cameras all over the perimeter, including the bathtub. But he knows not to go in the bathroom. He used the outhouse by the pool. Plus there are a lot of magical protection spells down there."

"How has he not fall in that huge thing?" Ron asked her as she started to walk back down the hall.

"Safety measures. Zack knows that he's not supposed to go in that pool, but he also knows the safety measures that he has to use when he's around the pool. There are scanners around the inside of the pool. If he step in without a life jacket, his swimmies, or his floatie, an alarm goes off and the pool drains in five second flat. There are ladders all over that pool." Taylor said.

"Heh. Hey, what's that locked room in the back, by the pool?" Ron asked her. Taylor smirked as she hit the Slytherin steps.

"It's the reality gaming room. Zack's not allowed in their without an adult. It cost a pretty penny, but I'm waiting until he's old enough to run without looking hilarious." She said. Ron laughed. "Can Harry and I go in?"

"No. I don't want Zack to see you go in and then think, well if they can go in, why can't I?" Taylor said. Ron nodded, frowning.

"Alright. Ah!" Harry had grabbed Ron's legs and the both of them went sliding down the large slide. Taylor closed the bag with a soft shrug.

"Ginger." She called out. She reached the Slytherin Common room and sat down next to Draco Malfoy.

"Hey Taylor." Draco smiled.

"Hey Dray. Where are the girls?"

"Huh? Oh, they went off. I think their going to see Bella's dad or something." Draco shrugged.

"They just enjoy toying with people." She laughed. Draco reached over and grabbed the bag off her lap. "Zack asleep yet?" Draco asked. Taylor shook her head no. "Nah. Besides, its bath night anyway. He's having a sleepover with Ron and Harry."

Draco had currently been sipping from the glass cup in his hand, but spit out the liquid he had just took in like a mist.

"What?! You let those two nerds go in that thing, but I can't?" He scowled.

"This is my private home. I can do whatever I want." Taylor said with a shrug. Draco nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so."


End file.
